This contribution focuses on the experience of an emerging scholar practitioner within higher education who also identifies as an Indian international doctoral student. By using a scholarly personal narrative, the author has described their life experiences and negotiations as a part of their study abroad journey from India to the United States. Using various student development theories to understand international student experiences, the author has critiqued the use of a western lens and discussed the need for scholarship that allows practitioners to view international student experiences from a different perspective. This piece also discusses the emergence of the Indian student population within the United States over the last few years and calls out the need to have more research in areas that focus on their student experiences, the development of student development theories that allows practitioners to better understand Indian students' experiences and future implications for international higher education within the United States.