What an evening!
For starters, to avoid any confusion, this was not a farewell for me or for anyone. A little backstory might help, so here it goes.
One of our professors at UConn, Dr. Ram Gopal, was kind enough to offer us an extra set of lectures on Statistics when the rest of our UConn buddies were busy with their internships and were not available for in-person classes at UConn’s Hartford campus. I didn’t apply for internship as I wanted to graduate earlier than normal batch and start working and earning to support my family. I know it was a risk, but it was a calculated risk and didn’t seem a bad decision to me.
Anyway, this evening was a culmination of all the extra classes that we were attending. I am not sure what we learned during the last class, but at the end of the class, he invited every one of us (roughly 20 students) to join him at the brewery where he invited us the last time – Citysteam brewery. We were jubilant to join him and spend more time with him discussing about various things and the future prospects once we graduate from UConn.
As we were only 10-12 people, we got a table easily and that’s when we started chugging some beer and talking whatever was in our mind (& by we, I meant me). By this time, I was a little “pro” when it came to drinks now, so when the professor asked around what we would like to have, I went ahead and told a pitcher of dirty blonde would be nice. Along with the dirty blonde, the professor ordered one more pitcher of some other beer, which I don’t remember now.
We started chugging glasses of beer and there were a couple of us who were not into beer, so the professor made sure they order a drink of their choice. Everyone started talking to each other and professor and started sharing their stories, their plans after the graduation and what not.
This is where I wanted to seize the opportunity to have some “future” discussion with the professor. I mentioned my ambition of pursuing a Ph.D. degree, to which the professor was nothing but supportive. Having mentioned my desire to pursue highest level of education, I made sure to mention that I do have a family to support and three sisters to marry off. Having come from the similar background, the professor grew a little serious in his tone and mentioned that if I could commit 5 years of my time to him at Hartford, it would be easier for me to purse a part-time Ph.D. degree at UConn itself.
That’s when I realized that the idea of part-time Ph.D. degree never crossed my mind. This short five minute discussion was something I needed really bad to figure out a way to realize my ultimate dream – “having a Dr. before my name”.
The reason I came to the US was to unlock the better life and better opportunities. Ever since I knew how the education system of this world works, I knew I would like to get a Ph.D. degree and then call it a day (as far as my formal education is concerned).
I was glad that I got this chance to talk to the professor and sought his advice about my plan for higher education. Ever since that day, this discussion has been with me and I go back to this day whenever I feel like taking that next step in my life.
Anyway, as the evening progressed, we drank more and I was feeling a little dizzy with the effect of a few glasses of beer. I was enjoying and my fellow batchmates were enjoying me talking to them. That’s when we clicked so many photos with everyone, thinking that this might be the last time we see each other, which was true, sadly!
At the end of the evening, we hugged the professor and each other and bade goodbyes. On the way to my apartment, I picked a subway sandwich as I was not in mood to cook dinner. It was enough to call it a night.
Memorable day and good people!
Next stop – exploring New York state, Long Island in particular.
stochasticity 