The Liberating Summer
The transition from being a relatively carefree, 20-year old engineering student having lived within the protected boundary of his parents, to a determined, 21-year old master’s student living all by himself in a foreign country was a huge leap of faith for me. The first 7 months following the move to US went in a blur, balancing between enjoying the new environment, exploring new opportunities and meeting new people, and putting in more-than-ever efforts in courses, pushing limits to explore new ideas in research courses, and building connections in the academic setting. What lay ahead in the following two months qualifies for me as the most challenging period yet. That is a story in itself. However, as they say, the night is darkest before dawn. That was precisely how I feel that phase to be, now that I look back. Landing an internship gave me the opportunity to experience something new – a sense of freedom and responsibility of managing expenses from what you earn, planning...