Key Points

While speaking to ANI, Jason Smith, member of the board of directors of the Montana World Affairs Council, said, "I've had the good fortune to visit India twice before. I've been eager to come back, and coming back with this group of young people and seeing it through their eyes is very special. I've always found my time in India to be magical. The people are warm and wonderful. The sights and the sounds are so unique. There's no place like it on planet Earth."

He noted that being in India with a group of eager students has made the experience much more special.

Smith said, "To be in this place with so many warm and wonderful people, with an eager group of young people, has made it just that much more special for me. There are so many wonderful things about living in Montana in the United States. It's beautiful, it's rural. There are many open spaces, but we do not have good Indian food. For someone like me, who loves to eat good food, being in Delhi and sampling some of the finest Indian dishes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner is a real treat".

Jason Smith is one of a group of ten representatives from Montana, comprising seven high school students and three chaperones (from World Affairs Council, Montana), who are on a study visit to India.

Clara Depuy, while speaking to ANI, mentioned that she is looking forward towards exploring the fauna and flora of India, which is vastly different from that of Montana.

Upon her visit, she highlighted, "I've already learned so much just about expectation versus reality. Coming to India, I did not have anything to expect, but I had these kinds of preconceived notions just from what we learn in school or what we see from over on the other side of the world. And I think that's important to know that not everything is always exactly as it seems from the media, or just what you see on the outside".

Lara Larson, a graduate from Lockwood High School in Montana, told ANI, " It's been really, really exciting to be able to come to a place that's so wildly different from something that I'm used to. So many flavours, so many colours, it's been so exciting to experience. I'm really, really excited for the Taj Mahal... I'm also really excited to experience the culture and learn more about the religion, especially. We read Siddhartha in our world class this year, and it felt very well timed with this trip because I really enjoyed that book, and I'm really looking forward to talking to people and getting to learn more about how people live their lives"

Emily Brandenburg told ANI that reading about Siddhartha made her feel connected to India because it was her first experience with a "non-Westernised version of religion".

She expressed enthusiasm for Bollywood and the Indian film industry.

Alli DePuy, a teacher, told ANI, "We have been welcomed with open arms, with lots of love, with delicious food and friendship."

The Consulate General of India selected the delegation in Seattle after their outstanding participation in EconoQuest 2025 at Montana State University and Academic WorldQuest 2025 at the University of Montana in Missoula.

- ANI