https://ingenium.engr.tamu.edu/software-skills-are-the-key-to-success-for-an-electrical-engineer/

https://ingenium.engr.tamu.edu/need-an-adventure-try-a-hackathon/

https://ingenium.engr.tamu.edu/planning-a-research-paper/

https://ingenium.engr.tamu.edu/find-your-place-in-aggieland/ 

https://ingenium.engr.tamu.edu/cherry-picking-your-research-advisor-and-project/ 

https://ingenium.engr.tamu.edu/3-steps-to-land-an-internship/ 

https://ingenium.engr.tamu.edu/hobbies-an-outlet-for-your-busy-life-in-grad-school-and-beyond/ 

https://ingenium.engr.tamu.edu/why-you-should-consider-grad-school/ 

https://ingenium.engr.tamu.edu/3-important-tips-for-excelling-in-powerpoint-presentations/ 

It has been nearly three years since I entered The United States of America. Each and every moment of these three years was filled with excitement, amusement, surprise, and happiness. My experience is 99% positive. May be because I started in the most beautiful Boulder, Colorado, which I call home. I can vouch for you, Boulder will be home to everyone who spent a part of their life there. Thousands of memories filled my three years with everything positive. New relations with friends, professors, industrial experts, intellectuals, and thus the list would go on. When I look back, I see happiest moments and a few regretting incidents. But the best thing I see is the change in me. I cannot believe how strong I have become. The aggregate of multiple experiences pushed me to better myself.

The day I landed in Denver International Airport, one of the largest airports in the world, I walked out of west gate watching the Rocky mountains welcoming the sun into their arms. Wow! Can the moment be any better?. That moment I changed the description on all my social media handles to “Nature Lover”. Luckily there was no one to feel jealous for calling nature my lover. Anyways, as we were waiting the bus arrived. It was the narrowest bus body I have ever seen in my life and at the same time most efficient occupancy.

A week before the classes started, I worked in the bookstore on-campus. That one week introduced me many first hand experiences. The friendly nature of people in USA, disappointing coffee (the first and last coffee in these three years), ability to walk distances without breaking a sweat, smiling bus drivers, funny bus names (Hop, Skip, Bound, and Jump. Aren’t they funny?) and countless other things. The most important and unbelievable thing is the Salsa practice. I was a shy person, who thinks not twice but forever to talk to a new person, let alone salsa dance with a new female. I joined a Salsa practice group who were giving a demo during the fall welcome party. In no time, snow arrived and my love for Boulder grew with no leaps and bounds. The mountains were different each day. After a busy spring, I moved to California for an internship.

SAN FRANCISCO!!! Well, What can I say? The first city I fell in love with. The architecture, the planning, the people, the celebration, the weather and never ending Pacific Ocean. The variety of street performances, the food, the marine museum, Ghirardelli ice creams, Redwoods, and the mighty Golden Gate Bridge. There is history in every molecule of San Francisco air. The proximity to multiple national forests, beautiful landscapes, and never ending coast make it such a rare city. The technology and companies around my home in San Jose fascinated me to an overwhelming level. From the minute part of my electronics to the top level objects everything is found around me. There was hardly any space in technology space to take a breathe. I made wonderful friends. The San Jose/Bay area culture pushed me to socialize. I lost half of my fear. May be I might have done a real salsa dance but there was no girl, luckily?

The next year repeated my first year life at Boulder, but the mountains still looked fresh everyday. One more year passed with some more new people and entirely different academic experiences. One year at National Institute of Standards and Technology (about them in one sentence, they decide the time on your computer) in parallel with my professor Dr. Eric Bogatin’s lab. If there is anything technical knowledge in me, it is from him. My dad used to tell me “Everyone gets a turning point in their life.” I honestly feel that turning point is my association with Dr. Bogatin.

One year ago I moved to California, yet again. The places are never boring. Every holiday I visit the same places with a new set of friends. Every time I visit, I learn/see something new. I figured California has more history compared to my history textbooks through out my primary and secondary school. There are thousands of minor incidents in the past three years but those stay in my heart and may be will spill out in another article. I do not know if life is celebrated everyday in other parts of the world. But I do celebrate here and it is a beautiful place to live.

On the first sight, it is the most rudest sentence one can say. I can never force other person to accept anything. Atmost I can talk to convince but never demand.

However, I am talking about self acceptance. I found that it can do wonders. I tested on myself for a few months now.

Let’s say you face a person who does not behave according to what you think is right. In simple words, you find someone annoying. Now, the immediate reaction, at least for me, will be to think what are the ways that person is annoying. You will keep thinking about that person and how annoying that person is. You will tell your friends. You will try to think how that person could have behaved better. This thought process destroyed some of your time which can never come back. Instead, accept that you are annoyed. Close your eyes and tell to yourself, “I am annoyed and it’s okay to be.”

Any such feeling can be subsided by two simple sentences. If you are angry, accept to yourself that you are angry and it’s okay. But doing this you can reduce the right/wrong conflict between two of your organs, whatever those are.

After trying this out, I felt so refreshed. Whenever a conflict arise I take a side, immediately, and the side doesn’t matter. It does not matter because I feel 90% of my thoughts are not going to be useful in any way for my future sustainability. So I wipe out any feeling straight away by this acceptance method.

Finally, ACCEPT that you are a normal human being and all these feelings of anger, impatience, laziness, etc. are common and it’s ok to be under the influence of this feeling. By reiterating to your brain about your current state, you are not letting your current state to take over your moment. So start accepting, stay calm and productive. ☺