Over the past few weeks, I have written various articles that have addressed how I am an international student and what the international experience means to me. This week, I decided to write about why I chose to go to college abroad and what it truly meant when I chose to go to college in the United States.
While I write this, I find it best to address first that I love India, I'm proud to be an Indian, and India will always be dear to me.
Coming from a family where everyone has received an education from the best universities in their fields, I knew I was bound to be attracted to a good university with the best reputation.
India has amazing universities and the best engineering schools, such as IIT, the university my dad is an alumnus of. IIT is one of the top-rated B-Schools and produces the best professionals in their field.
When I was growing up, I had a plethora of ideas about what I wanted to be and what I wanted to study.
In second grade, I wanted to be a school care taker. Then, I hoped that I would be an architect one day. That desire soon changed to going to medical school, and it was later replaced by wanting to be a metallurgist (My dad currently is, and it is quite ironic because, at a later stage, I decided I would never do engineering). Being a metallurgist was then replaced by my desire to be an investment banker, only to replaced with becoming a travel journalist. Finally, I decided that medical school was the place for me (Yes. I did a full 360 to land up at the same spot where I started, but I hold no regrets and love my current choice).
My father studied in the United States, which brought my parents here for a couple of years. Having heard many stories about their time here, especially my father’s experience at his university, fascinated me. I wanted to go to a place like the one he described, and I wanted to experience everything that a university campus has to offer. In short, I wanted to "adult" on my own.
Having grown up in a close-knit family, where, as the first born, I was pampered and loved by everyone, I wanted to go away from home, be independent, live by myself, and be able to do everything on my own.
In case you haven’t figured it out yet, I am the most indecisive person, and I am always open to learning new things and experimenting with my career path. This was one of the most important factors that helped me make my decision to study abroad, rather than India.
Having said all of this, I would like to say that, while India has amazing colleges and opportunities, being as indecisive as I am, I needed a place that would allow me to do what I love and what I garnered a passion for. Studying in India would have meant that I would have gotten a bachelors degree in then gone to medical school. Being abroad in the United States gave me an opportunity to explore my passion to write, while simultaneously pursuing my passion of medical school and going into the public health sphere.
