August 12th 2004... The day my US journey started... leaving behind my loved ones to pursue higher studies...
I still remember the first day very well.... landed around 12.45pm at JFK to be picked by seniors from Stony Brook and was stranded untill 9.00 pm in the night at the airport along with two other friends... and finally someone came and picked us and we reached our new apartment at 1.00 am in the night only.... riding in a bus from JFK to stony brook in the dark...
Right from that day.. till today it has been an exciting journey.... Looking back... some of the main changes that happened...
1) First and foremost... the doctorate degree! - Thinking about my studies, I find that more than the actual degree and the specific research topic I pursued, I think I learnt to do independent research and think creatively... I dont know how much my thesis research will be relevant in the future... but it was a very full fulling 4 year 9 months... It taught me what persistence means... Cant forget those painful deadline times and the even more painful paper rejection times... These 5 years taught me
this. I was fortunate to get the best advisor a PhD student can get... landed on some interesting topics, met some amazing researchers... numerous conference trips -- free ofcourse :) and last but not the least -- it helped me land in a awesome team in one of the best research labs.
2) Interest in Photography - I would definitely think this as next to my PhD in these five years.. my passion towards photography hit its peak during this period... I bought my first SLR (Canon rebel XT). The numerous conference travels started to become numerous photo trips.. those wonderful photo walks in NYC, adventurous camping trips at maine, yellow stone, some adventurous moments in dublin, paris, over night drives, Caddilac mountain sunrise, bass harbor sunset, sunrise near eiffel tower, Alaskan sunrise, Aurora viewing at 3.0am at -25C :)
3) Travel - I have spent more time traveling in these 5 years than in the rest of my life... I did not travel much in India, Pune was the northern most I travelled in India :D and probably Tanjore in South. Love of photography indeed was one of the main reason for the travels.. I am hoping to make many more... Some of the future trips I am hoping will happen are one cross country trip from
NY to SFO, Peru, Antarctica, Iceland, Kenya and ofcourse when I get back to India.. most part of it!
4) Interest in blogging and singing: Though I am not updating this space lately, I love this space.. had some wonderful friends because of this space, people I have known only through the comments and their blogs... my bathroom singing turned out into
karaoke recordings in this space, it served as a initial platform for my photography passion, some stories, some personal posts...
5) Independent living - Though I list this at the end, this probably is the best thing that ever happened in these 5 years... I cooked my own food, did my own laundry, did my own shopping, made several decisions on my own, handled money on my own, and what not... It was hard in the beginning but now I know its value :) Indeed as a person, I learnt a lot.. Not sure I would have done all these if I were with my parents -- with a caring mom and dad who do everything for me and my bro.
There were several things I missed too... Nothing comes for free.. we all know... Missed parents and relatives, the new born harini kutty (chitti's daughter -- now she is in UKG :), several diwalis -- Its been 6 years I celebrated one :( -- pongals, those sunday non veg feasts, moms food, very close friends (mostly UG).
Looking forward... I am hoping this journey takes me to lot of new places and I get a chance to meet more interesting new people :)
Happy Independence day all!
