Up, Up and Away: few HOURS to go!!

Hello everybody,
Today is the day! Today night, in a few hours I'll leave the country to go to USA for my studies. I'm really sad, excited and a little tense at the moment. All my bags are packed and ready. I just need to have my dinner, change my clothes and leave. All my bags are just within the allowed weight limit. Hopefully the scale I used co-insides with the scale at the airport. I've been home all of this week and I feel really sad to be leaving for such a long time. I'm not too sad about leaving the house (that I've lived in ever since I was born!) or the city etc. I will miss all that, but not as much as I'm going to miss my parents and Tee. My mom was almost in tears today morning. Day before I couldn't sleep till around 2 am and kept sobbing in bed. I feel really sad to be leaving behind my parents especially at this stage when they are getting old. I see that they have lesser energy than they used to a few years back and I fear they may become weaker by the time I see them next. The thought that they may struggle all by themselves when I'm away enjoying my life haunts me. Technology is a boon; I will be able to see them and talk to them online everyday; but, I won't be able to understand the little struggles they may face on a day-to-day basis or help them out in any little way I can. But I guess I'll have to bear with it for now. Hopefully after 2 years, I'll get a job that will allow me to stay close to my parents and take care of them. I am teary eyed as I write this as I think about all that they have done for me and my sister. They've done the best that anyone could possibly do for their children. They've worked hard all their lives ignoring their health to do the best for us. And now, after all that I'm leaving them here and going away so far. This post is also a reminder to the future me. I hope I never forget all that my parents have done for me and never hurt them ever! I'm scared that I may change as a person and get too engrossed with my own new life and forget all about my parents. I HOPE and PRAY that never happens. If such a day comes, I hope at least this post may remind me. Me and my mom had a little squabble with my sister a few days back. The amount it hurt my mom deeply hurt me. The way they look forward to my sister's call every evening and if  she doesn't ask about them one day, the expression on my mom's face after I end the call is heart breaking. I hope I never ever do such a thing! Although I scream at them, I fight with them, at the end of the day they always forgive me; they could never do anything to hurt me so much that I would not forgive them.
I just hope these few years away in a new country won't change me. I hope my parents and Tee are happy and healthy here and I hope very soon we'll all be united again.
So, those are my thoughts right now. I don't want to cry before I leave, but I'm so on the verge off it right now! Ugh! a  really bad time. God! why do things have to be so difficult! Why hasn't teleportation been invented still!? I hope the journey is smooth! See you on the other side! (Hopefully I'll be in a saner state of mind in a few days time!) I still had a lot more to write about about this past week (happy stuff). I'll put it in another post after I reach USA.
Until next time,
Bye! :D

Up, Up and Away: < 20 days to go! (Visa approved!)

Hello everybody!
I know I haven't been posting anything else apart from this topic, but I think that's all that's going on in my life these past few months. I have no idea when I'll post a quality post next. Please bear with me for a few more weeks. I have a feeling that I'll have some really interesting stuff to write about soon!
Coming back to the topic of this post, I finally finished my Visa interview and my visa got approved! I got back my stamped passport too. The interview went really smooth and lasted no longer than 2 minutes! I had spent months procuring all the required documents and organizing them. A lot of people post a lot of stuff they think is true on groups and forums and get others worried. Even on the day before my interview, someone on the WhatsApp group (of people from my city going to the same university) said some particular document had to be attested and the original was not enough! Although that did not make much sense, when an important thing like your visa is at stake, little things also bother you. Finally it turned out that that document was not required. I felt like I was over-prepared; but its always better to be a little over-prepared rather than under-prepared.
I bought a new suitcase. I'm allowed 2 large ones and a small carry-on. I already had 2 large ones but decided to buy another one as my parents might need the other one for when they travel. I haven't started putting stuff in, I think I'll start doing that about a week  before I leave. I bought a few dresses and shoes that I thought I could use there. I don't even have a vague idea how much all my stuff weighs. This week I'll start putting all the things that I'll be taking in one place. That should give me an idea about how much space I'll be left with if I decide to buy more stuff.
I have a to-do list to which I had just been adding stuff all these weeks; now a lot of them are getting checked off. I had to get my eyes checked (I've heard medical treatment is very expensive in the US). It turns out that I have a slight power but the doctor said that I don't need to wear glasses regularly! (only when I need them).  A lot of my friends are getting a dental check-up too. I'm really scared of the dentist and am quite sure I don't have any cavities. So, I'm planning to skip that. I had to get a vaccination and a blood draw test. (I think I've suffered enough in one month!)
This week will be my last proper week at work. My internship was supposed to end next Sunday, but I'll be taking some days off next week to prepare; I'll go on friday to finish the closing procedures.
Until now I hadn't told most of my friends about my plan to go abroad; I told quite a few of my friends recently after I got my visa. There were mixed reactions. I think I'll make a separate post that and other stuff.
Until next time,
Bye! :D

My first admit!

Hello everybody,
I'm excited to announce today that I received my first admit to pursue my Masters at a reputed university in USA! As I mentioned in earlier posts that this year would be a year of change for me, this was what I had in mind. I wasn't sure earlier about how things would turn out and hence hadn't told you that I had applied. But now that I've received an admit, I'm pretty sure that I would be taking up the seat if all other things fall into place.
The application process to US universities in a very long process and is quite complicated. When I joined my undergrad college, choosing a college was so simple. Where I live, admission to (most)undergraduate colleges is based on a board exam. Once the ranks are announced, counselling is conducted in 5-6 centers (in different cities) and there is a central system that displays the available seats. Students are called to pick their seat in the order of their ranks. If a seat you wish is available, you pick it up. Its simple and straight forward.
But in the US, the application process itself involves a long procedure. You need to take up the exams, fill in the application forms, write a statement of purpose, request letters of recommendation, pay the application fees and then apply. And even after applying, it takes close to 4-5 months before you get a response. Waiting for a response is quite scary especially when you see others receiving multiple admits. However, I wasn't really nervous as I already have a job in hand; but still, I was a little anxious. Every time I logged in to my mail I would cross my fingers and pray that I hadn't received a reject. Getting no response is better than getting a reject I feel.
Yesterday, just before leaving for work, I checked my mail on my phone. I saw a new mail with the subject 'Update on admission status' and I could see the word 'Congratulations' in the preview line.I was super excited and skimmed over the important details and read it out to my parents who were equally thrilled. I received my first admit from the university I was most keen about.
I still have to finish a lot of procedures that are required before I can be admitted. I still can't imagine moving away to a new country and living away from my parents. I will write more about this in my future posts. Do let me know if you have any thoughts about studying abroad.
Until next time,
Bye! :D