My name is Prema Walker. One of the two sisters behind The Margam.

In 2015, I landed in the USA with one contact here. Someone who had come before me, who knew how things worked. I called once. Understood they were busy with their own life. Decided I did not want to be a burden.

I never called again.

I never said what I needed. I told myself I would figure it out alone. That assumption cost me more than I can put into one email.

But before I get to that, let me tell you where I came from.

I grew up in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh. Raised by my grandparents and my mother's brothers. My mother is a single mother who chose her children's safety over staying in a situation that was hurting her. I did not understand what that cost her until much later in my life.

Growing up, I wanted to ask questions. I wanted to learn things. I was often reminded that I was a girl and that wanting things was not really my place.

In 2010, I got into an engineering college. Mechanical Engineering. I was the only girl in a class of 52. Within the first year, multiple teachers told me to switch to something more appropriate for girls.

I did not switch.

Coming to the USA was not my dream. A classmate applied, convinced my mother it made sense, and the argument was simple: go study, earn money, build a better life for the family. I agreed to the plan.

The first time I heard about America at all, I was in 9th or 10th grade. Registered mail arrived at our house for a relative who was leaving for the USA. My grandparents could not sign for it. I was the only one who could. I signed, handed it back. That was my entire relationship with this country before I boarded a plane.

So when I landed in 2015, carrying everything I described above, I had one contact and one chance to ask for help.

I did not take it.

What I needed was not charity. Not even a favor. I needed someone who had already been through it to sit down and say: here is how this actually works. Here is what you protect first. Here is what no one warns you about until it is already happening.

That person did not exist for me.

That is the only reason The Margam exists.

If you are preparing to come to the USA on an F-1 visa, this newsletter is what I wish had been in my inbox in 2015.

Reply and tell me: what is the one thing you are most uncertain about right now?

I read every reply.

Prema Walker

Co-Founder, The Margam