What an year! One sentence – “2016 was a life changing year for me!“
The biggest transformation was to switch from the Indian culture to the Western Culture, which I am happy to say wasn’t difficult for me. I had always been a social person, so after coming to the US, this social nature has helped me *only* thrive with my friends and connections that I could build throughout 2016.
There were lows as well during this year. There was a period, just before coming to the US, I was unsure about my future. I had secured my place at UConn, and was all set to come to the US. Keeping the notice period of my then employer and spending enough time with family in mind, I resigned in early May. Little did I know that the road to securing the loan would not be that smooth and easy.
I applied at various banks and places, to no avail. I was resuscitated by Prodigy Finance who approved my loan application. I still remember that day and will never forget. I was teaching a class in Bangalore on an afternoon. That’s when I got a notification on my phone and I opened it with care and I could hear my hearbeat going crazy. At that moment, the fastest WiFi in Bangalore seemed slow to let me open that email. Finally, when I actually saw the subject line and the word “Congratulations!”, that was the moment for me.
Since early childhood, I had been dreaming about coming to the US, and that dream was about to get real. Receiving that email and securing the loan meant increased odds at my student visa approval and hassle free ticket booking. That email was not only the approval of my student loan, but an approval of my lifelong dreams and I couldn’t be more thankful for that.
Apart from the journey to the US, the other highlights that come to mind are –
Saying goodbye to the family – this was one of the hardest things I had to. I knew my life would not be the same when I took that train from Nagpur to Mumbai and then a flight from Mumbai to New York. I knew my love would multifold after leaving home, but it would just not be the same – not seeing their lovely and smiling face and not able to visit home every once in a while.
Meeting her in the US – this was definitely my highlight during the stay in the US. I didn’t even imagine she would come here in the US to meet me so that we could spend holidays together. Her love was real and so was mine.
Exploring US – I did get a chance to explore US (both East Coast and West Coast) within the first couple months I got here. I had fun in Las Vegas, California, and got to meet some friends from India in the Alumni Meet at New Jersey & then there were random trips with cricket buddies across Connecticut.
Having gone through all these highlights, it really came to a fitting point that I celebrate this new year with my Hartford roommates. We had a nice time, doing what single guys do on a new year’s eve.
Though I looked happy in the pictures, deep down I was still missing her as it was only a day for her to leave US and me. I missed her among my friends during this special day of the year.
What an awesome & amazing year!
Let’s see what 2017 has in store!
stochasticity 