Metea Valley’s Indian Student Association (ISA) hosted Naperville city councilman Ian Holzhauer on Oct. 10, in order for the congressman to gather information for his State Department – sponsored trip to India.
During the ISA kick-off meeting, Holzhauer organized a listening session and posted questions to the members of the ISA. He asked general questions that would help him understand the economic and social dynamic of India, to have a better outcome in his delegation trip.
The US delegation of the American Council of Young Political Leaders (ACYPL) traveling to India consists of 7 delegates. Ian Holzhauer is the first ever delegate who is a member of the Naperville City Council. In order to best prepare for his trip, Holzhauer is visiting every high school in the 204 district and setting up listening sessions with Indian students. He asked a range of questions to the students at Metea, spanning from general information students wanted to share, what he should expect in India, and what he can do to represent Naperville in India.
Holzhauer ascribes credit for the idea of visiting high schools to School Board Secretary Supna Jain.
“I actually brainstormed with her, because she’s a good friend of mine, about the best ways to get information that I should be sharing with leaders in India; learning the pulse of the Indian American community, the South Asian community,” Holzhauer said. ‘She said, why don’t you come talk to kids in the high schools? They’ve got a great idea of what’s going on.’”
Holzhauer found the meeting to be pleasant and beneficial for the upcoming trip abroad.
“I am really thankful for the input of so many Metea students,” Holzhauer said.” It is really different hearing the perspective of the younger generation compared to people my age. It’s a more unvarnished perspective sometimes, but that’s really, really helpful.”
The central purpose of the trip is to network and build friendships in India. Holzhauer’s goal is to create affinity between Indian leaders and Naperville’s South Asian Diaspora, in the hopes that Indians in Naperville will feel more connected to the city’s community.
The trip is mostly concentrated in North India, starting in Delhi, advancing to Jaipur, and finally ending at the northeastern city of Bhubaneswar in Odisha, which is being considered for economic development by the Indian government.
Holzhauer acknowledges that this is the first time he would be traveling to India,
“The closest I’ve been is when I was in the Air Force, and I was stationed in Guam,” Holzhauer said. “I would travel for my job to Korea, to Japan.”
