It was a conditioned reflex – my anxious hand reaching for the phone on the side table and refreshing my inbox for any emails even before my eyes accustomed themselves to the bright light of the morning. The application process had been exhausting considering the pandemic – preparing for the standardized tests, drafting my statement of purpose and getting the recommendation letters from the mentors while juggling project deadlines and leading a team full time was a challenge. At the beginning of January, every day began with the hope of any correspondence from the universities. However, by the end of March 2021, I didn’t really care if I got an admit or a denial – all that I sought was closure.
The initial days were the toughest – it felt as though the rest of the world was speeding while I struggled to maintain a snail’s pace. As time passed, uncertainty grew familiar. And then, when I felt that all hope was lost, I received an acceptance from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. To say that I was thrilled would be an understatement – it was one of the top universities on my list. I heaved a sigh of relief that the worst bit was over. Little did I know that the rocky road was only the beginning of a rather bumpy journey.
By the end of April, I learnt that Murphy’s Law holds true more often than not – with the spread of the second wave of the pandemic, the time required for processing the I20, virtually no regular visa slots, the presidential proclamation limiting travel from India kicking three days before I was eligible to apply for the emergency visa, and limited COVID vaccination opportunities in India for my age group, things looked bleak at best. The biggest risk I took was booking my tickets to Austin before I even had my visa in place (which actually paid off big time!). Understanding that the entire effort would be pointless if I tested COVID positive before the flight, I began isolating myself for a couple of weeks before the journey. The hardest part of this episode was to leave so many close friends without being able to say goodbye – it was just unfair!
The actual journey to the land of opportunity was no piece of cake either. The batchmates scheduled to fly out of Delhi had their flights cancelled at the absolute last moment. While my experience was smooth, a couple of other batchmates struggled at the Mumbai Airport because of the ambiguity concerning the national interest exception for F1 students. Fortunately, despite being a LONG journey, it was uneventful.
I gained a few pearls of wisdom from the beginning of this new roller coaster of a journey – the first one is about keeping calm in the face of crisis and calculating the next step considering the limited information available (ideally keeping emotions aside). Life is uncertain, especially so for the international students pursuing MS in the US. The best you can do is remain positive and have faith that everything will work itself out – even if it doesn’t you will have a heck of a story to tell. Finally, reach out and lean on your support system. Talk to them regularly. Moving abroad, especially when you haven’t stayed away from your loved ones can be overwhelming at times; and figuring your way through the immensity of the change can be stressful. Having a friendly face around helps beat the stress and loneliness, especially in the initial days.
A Roller Coaster called Life 