Hi everyone :)
This September, I am going to do my masters in naval arch at memorial university of Newfoundland. Now when everything is ready and settled, I thought I would tell you all the story of how it happened!
My effort to study abroad started 2 years ago. From the first day, this decision was motivated by all other things except actual real studies. In final year, I tried desperately to get into a university abroad. I applied for courses ranging from masters in civil engineering to masters in coastal engineering to masters in management to masters in social entrepreneurship. Absolutely aimless academically. Then something happened and I quitted all my plans … lost … tired… dead!!!
After I finished my final year, I was lucky enough to arrange an internship in France (probably the only one from IIT to do an internship abroad after final year). The experience of living in France was fantastic …. But I missed India … and as always made plans of purposeful work that I will do when I am back.
After coming back, I joined Pipavav Shipyard Limited. It’s a shipyard in the remotest possible location in the Indian subcontinent. I joined the company with the motivation of contributing towards the booming shipbuilding industry of India. But immediately after joining the firm I realized that the chaos and un-organization that paralyze the Indian manufacturing sector was also an integral part of this firm. Ideally I should have worked harder to find remedies of these problems, but instead, I started planning my exit from the firm. Within a month I was back to my study abroad obsession … as aimless as before. This time, the fields where even more diverse. I decided to apply for project management, observational oceanography, global innovation management and naval architecture. Such was my madness that I travelled across the country to get recommendation letters from my professors. The naval architecture course I was planning to apply was in NTNU Norway. So I took recommendation letters for all the four courses and was planning my travel back. I don’t know what came to my mind, I requested my professors to give me one extra recommendation letter for naval architecture without specifying the university name. And they obliged.
I came back and applied to all the four courses. I still had one reference for naval arch course with me. One day when I was doing some online research, I came across memorial university of Newfoundland. One of my friends had mentioned before about naval arch course in this university, but I don’t know why, I had never given it much attention. Well, just because of my habit, I emailed a couple of professors asking them about graduate student opportunities. Off course, there area of interest became my area of specialization in the email. And voila … I got a positive reply!!! Blood rushed and sleep flew. All of a sudden, I could see that this is the place where I stand real good chances of admission with full scholarship … infact much better chances then all the other applications I had already made. Within 2 weeks, I completed all the application formalities. This is my general tendency, when I am on something, I am on it with all I have. But the bottom line is that I could make this application, because I took that extra reference from my professors … ahhh what an idea sir ji!!! Now the wait for the final decision from the universities started.
Surprise Surprise!!! … Life is such a surprise ….
My boss in the company asked me to go for a 3 months training in china, from January to march. I was asked to sign a service agreement bond according to which, after I return, my company will expect me to work for at least 3 years with them. If I leave in between, I shall pay them Rs. 8,00,000 or 16000USD (which they said they are expecting will be the total cost of the trip). Fuck … I was out of sleep again!!! … So much effort in past 6 months for university applications … and all in waste … because if I leave the company after coming back from china… I can’t even imagine to pay this huge sum of money… what shall I do?? What shall I do?? I can refuse to go to china but it will not put a great impression on the company in these times of recession … and I am still not sure if I will be selected in any of the universities I applied … so what shall I do … what shall I do???
Few nights of thinking, few hours of Google research, some discussions .. and BANG! … I have a plan. I calculated that whatever I do and how ever expensively I live, the total expenditure on trip will not be more then 2,00,000 Rs. Or 4000 USD … which is 25% of what my bond amount is. So what I did is, I went to my boss and made a genuine request. I asked him to put a clause in the bond that I will pay either 8,00,000 Rs or the actual cost of the trip. And they obliged easily because they didn’t expected them to be much different.
Tough this amount (4000USD) is also big; it was well inside my payable range. And I calculated that it is approximately same as 3 months of my salary. So it will become a kind of self financed 3 months trip to china. This idea was much relieving. And now slowly, as preparations for china began, excitement started gripping!
I was already 2 months in china when I heard from memorial university of Newfoundland that I have been selected with full scholarship! Rest all universities either rejected my application, or provided me partial scholarship. Pffff … one extra reference letter can do miracles.. hehe … rest all that happened in china is mentioned in my previous posts.
I returned from china in the end of March and joined my firm. My company knows nothing yet. I cannot tell them anything before I get my visa … because what if I tell them and then my visa is rejected?? … So then followed the ugly paper work and everything else that goes into getting the passport stamped with visa. I received it in the beginning of June. It was time to inform my company that I want to leave. Telling my boss on face that I am leaving was the toughest exercise and a good experience. The information was passed, the awkwardness generated, the financial formalities completed and the resignation was given. 30th June was decided as my last day in the firm. After bidding goodbye to my friends in the company, on 4th July, I reached home!
So, now after all the ups and downs, all the planning and chaos, all the randomness and aimlessness, I am ready to go to Memorial University this September. Visa is ready and plain tickets booked.
But why I am going there? This question still prevails. I can give many answers but none of them satisfies me completely. I am definitely not passionate about ship building or naval architecture or even engineering. I prefer admiring the beauty of engineering by looking at the grandeur of it rather than by playing with it. If I work as an engineer, it will always be to make a living. Then why I am going to do masters in engineering? May be because I think by becoming super specialized in one field of engineering, I will be able to take an year off to travel in India and search for business opportunities and things and I want to do in my life. This master course is to give me more confidence that if I take a year off after I finish it, I will not be screwed if I end up with nothing concrete after a year of wondering. For this to happen, I shall study hard.
Strange as it may sound, this is how I am justifying this decision at the moment.
Peace! :)
Karan
This September, I am going to do my masters in naval arch at memorial university of Newfoundland. Now when everything is ready and settled, I thought I would tell you all the story of how it happened!
My effort to study abroad started 2 years ago. From the first day, this decision was motivated by all other things except actual real studies. In final year, I tried desperately to get into a university abroad. I applied for courses ranging from masters in civil engineering to masters in coastal engineering to masters in management to masters in social entrepreneurship. Absolutely aimless academically. Then something happened and I quitted all my plans … lost … tired… dead!!!
After I finished my final year, I was lucky enough to arrange an internship in France (probably the only one from IIT to do an internship abroad after final year). The experience of living in France was fantastic …. But I missed India … and as always made plans of purposeful work that I will do when I am back.
After coming back, I joined Pipavav Shipyard Limited. It’s a shipyard in the remotest possible location in the Indian subcontinent. I joined the company with the motivation of contributing towards the booming shipbuilding industry of India. But immediately after joining the firm I realized that the chaos and un-organization that paralyze the Indian manufacturing sector was also an integral part of this firm. Ideally I should have worked harder to find remedies of these problems, but instead, I started planning my exit from the firm. Within a month I was back to my study abroad obsession … as aimless as before. This time, the fields where even more diverse. I decided to apply for project management, observational oceanography, global innovation management and naval architecture. Such was my madness that I travelled across the country to get recommendation letters from my professors. The naval architecture course I was planning to apply was in NTNU Norway. So I took recommendation letters for all the four courses and was planning my travel back. I don’t know what came to my mind, I requested my professors to give me one extra recommendation letter for naval architecture without specifying the university name. And they obliged.
I came back and applied to all the four courses. I still had one reference for naval arch course with me. One day when I was doing some online research, I came across memorial university of Newfoundland. One of my friends had mentioned before about naval arch course in this university, but I don’t know why, I had never given it much attention. Well, just because of my habit, I emailed a couple of professors asking them about graduate student opportunities. Off course, there area of interest became my area of specialization in the email. And voila … I got a positive reply!!! Blood rushed and sleep flew. All of a sudden, I could see that this is the place where I stand real good chances of admission with full scholarship … infact much better chances then all the other applications I had already made. Within 2 weeks, I completed all the application formalities. This is my general tendency, when I am on something, I am on it with all I have. But the bottom line is that I could make this application, because I took that extra reference from my professors … ahhh what an idea sir ji!!! Now the wait for the final decision from the universities started.
Surprise Surprise!!! … Life is such a surprise ….
My boss in the company asked me to go for a 3 months training in china, from January to march. I was asked to sign a service agreement bond according to which, after I return, my company will expect me to work for at least 3 years with them. If I leave in between, I shall pay them Rs. 8,00,000 or 16000USD (which they said they are expecting will be the total cost of the trip). Fuck … I was out of sleep again!!! … So much effort in past 6 months for university applications … and all in waste … because if I leave the company after coming back from china… I can’t even imagine to pay this huge sum of money… what shall I do?? What shall I do?? I can refuse to go to china but it will not put a great impression on the company in these times of recession … and I am still not sure if I will be selected in any of the universities I applied … so what shall I do … what shall I do???
Few nights of thinking, few hours of Google research, some discussions .. and BANG! … I have a plan. I calculated that whatever I do and how ever expensively I live, the total expenditure on trip will not be more then 2,00,000 Rs. Or 4000 USD … which is 25% of what my bond amount is. So what I did is, I went to my boss and made a genuine request. I asked him to put a clause in the bond that I will pay either 8,00,000 Rs or the actual cost of the trip. And they obliged easily because they didn’t expected them to be much different.
Tough this amount (4000USD) is also big; it was well inside my payable range. And I calculated that it is approximately same as 3 months of my salary. So it will become a kind of self financed 3 months trip to china. This idea was much relieving. And now slowly, as preparations for china began, excitement started gripping!
I was already 2 months in china when I heard from memorial university of Newfoundland that I have been selected with full scholarship! Rest all universities either rejected my application, or provided me partial scholarship. Pffff … one extra reference letter can do miracles.. hehe … rest all that happened in china is mentioned in my previous posts.
I returned from china in the end of March and joined my firm. My company knows nothing yet. I cannot tell them anything before I get my visa … because what if I tell them and then my visa is rejected?? … So then followed the ugly paper work and everything else that goes into getting the passport stamped with visa. I received it in the beginning of June. It was time to inform my company that I want to leave. Telling my boss on face that I am leaving was the toughest exercise and a good experience. The information was passed, the awkwardness generated, the financial formalities completed and the resignation was given. 30th June was decided as my last day in the firm. After bidding goodbye to my friends in the company, on 4th July, I reached home!
So, now after all the ups and downs, all the planning and chaos, all the randomness and aimlessness, I am ready to go to Memorial University this September. Visa is ready and plain tickets booked.
But why I am going there? This question still prevails. I can give many answers but none of them satisfies me completely. I am definitely not passionate about ship building or naval architecture or even engineering. I prefer admiring the beauty of engineering by looking at the grandeur of it rather than by playing with it. If I work as an engineer, it will always be to make a living. Then why I am going to do masters in engineering? May be because I think by becoming super specialized in one field of engineering, I will be able to take an year off to travel in India and search for business opportunities and things and I want to do in my life. This master course is to give me more confidence that if I take a year off after I finish it, I will not be screwed if I end up with nothing concrete after a year of wondering. For this to happen, I shall study hard.
Strange as it may sound, this is how I am justifying this decision at the moment.
Peace! :)
Karan
