Life/Luck Abroad

On the 6th of September 2022, I completed a year in Ireland. A year that feels almost a moment ago. Many memories made, and most certainly happy ones. I consider myself very lucky to be where I am. While I believe in hard work, I never underestimate the role that luck has played in my journey so far.

The National University of Ireland, Galway (now University of Galway) was my first choice of university. It also happened to be the only university out of all the universities that I applied to, to accept me. While my visa was being processed, I was looking for accommodation; and I had no idea how to search or apply for any accommodation - only applying to a few student accommodations. But, two weeks before I was bound to leave, Menlo Park Apartments offered me a room. I didn’t care what type of room it was, I was happy to accept it. I got my visa one day before my flight (livin’ on the edge) and I reached Dublin only to realise that two of my checked-in suitcases had been held back in Frankfurt. Luckily, I still had my cabin bag with some emergency supplies stacked, thanks to some good foresight from my father. I then settled into my new house, and things went pretty smooth from there.

Now I didn’t know to cook food before I came here. I was lucky enough to have my mother (who would pick the phone regardless of the time) and my housemates, who I now call friends, to help me cook. So we’d meal plan, shop groceries together and then cook together. Eventually, I learnt to cook! I was also lucky enough to have a housemate who supports Arsenal. So we’d watch games together and suffer together. We all shared similar taste in movies and music which led to movie nights and jam sessions when cleaning around the house.

I enjoyed the course and most importantly I enjoyed the workload. It wasn’t too overbearing nor was it too boring. I had enough time for myself while being happy about the amount of work I put in for the day. The professors at the university are good in nature and good at their work. I was lucky enough to interact with some of them and build some good working relationships.

When I preparing for my Master’s, I was not sure if I wanted a job or if I wanted to pursue a PhD. One thing I did know was that I wanted to get into research - but I felt that I was being picky for someone with no prior work experience. So in search of jobs, I attended a job fair. After interacting with a few senior engineers and managers, who all told me my resume was good, I was pretty happy with myself. I applied on all the websites and portals that they advised me to - only to not hear back from any of them. Well luckily, I met a professor who shared the same interests as me and was willing to take me on as a PhD student.

So after one year, I’ve learnt to cook, I’ve made friends, I’ve grown to be independent, I’ve been in situations way outside my comfort zone, I’ve become a PhD student and most importantly - I’ve lived. Finally, I consider myself very lucky to have my girlfriend. For without her suggestion, this wouldn’t have been possible in the first place.