Leaving the Comfort Zone
I am a young lad from the outskirts of Nepal. Just as I was about to enter the senior year of my high
school, the COVID-19 pandemic outbroke and almost everything was shut down for an uncertain period
of time. In the initial days, it seemed an exciting time to have got break from everything. However, things
began to get more and more complicated with passing time. I, who was living with hundreds of friends
in his high school dorms, all of a sudden, had no friends at all; I, who used to play many of the outdoor
games, had nowhere to go at all. I was even fed up from using gadgets for so long. Besides, I come from
a upper middle-class family with a total family savings of no more than what we require to survive for
around the next six months in case of emergency. Being the elder son, I knew inside that I had
responsibilities to fulfill; especially when it came to finances, I could morally add no more burden on
his parents. Unfortunately, I was unable to help his family significantly as a teenager at the
contemporary time.
A few months later, I entered into the senior year of my high school after taking the final exams online.
He had missed out on a lot of the things in school I should have otherwise known, all because of being
unable to attend my classes and exams as well as participating in sports in person. I was not content
with the rote-learning education system of my country, and the way his country’s political as well as
financial situations were deteriorating gradually. All of a sudden, I started researching for countries
with the best education systems in the world, and found US to be one of them. After a few months of
effort, I finalized his decision and then started preparing for all the prerequisites to achieve my goals in
life. In the initial phases, many people did not believe in my dreams, which in turn created self-doubt
within. Nevertheless, I never gave up.
While preparing for the application process to pursue my higher education in the United States, I felt
that the way education system worked in the US was quite different from what prevailed in my
motherland. In my country, the education was leaned more towards theoretical knowledge, memorizing
information and a three-hour-long final exam at the end of each year would define my future career.
However, the education system in the US required their students to focus simultaneously on extracurricular activities, sports and other co-curricular activities as well, and expected the same from
international students as well. They focused more on hands-on, real-world learning using state-of-theart facilities, and cutting-edge technology accompanied by interaction with the associated industries.
Things were not as easy as I had expected by just a few days of research.
My incessant struggles on every step of this pathway haunted me overnight, causing me to become
insomniac, and sometimes also breaking me into tears. Oftentimes, I got frustrated, and even thought
of giving up. However, my father had my back at all times, and always encouraged me to take any
calculated risks; he used to tell me that every risk is worth taking to achieve my goals in life. I graduated
from my high school, and yet could not get admission into any of the university in the US I wanted to
that year. I then decided to take a year’s gap after his high school, and prepare harder this time from my
past experience. After taking the necessary examinations and gathering a few months of industrial
experience from my extra-curricular activities, fortunately, I was able to secure admission into one of
the very reputable universities of the US to pursue my undergraduate studies.
Then was the time for me to travel to the United States to finally attend my classes for the next four
years. Ever since my childhood, I wished to travel by an airplane and by a metro. Both of my wishes
came true after so long. Traveling internationally requires one to go through a lot of security inspections
at the airport security. They ask a lot of random questions that do not even make any sense sometimes.
I had only heard of what probable questions were, what other peoples’ experiences were but was not
well acquainted with the way it worked. Fortunately, I got a friend, Ashok, at the airport with me who
was traveling with alongside. Ashok decided to help me with a lot of tasks. Ashok said to me, “Don’t
worry, dude! I will help you out whenever you are short of any clue or if you are afraid.” I breathed a
sigh of relief, finally, for the rest of my trip. Oh sorry, ‘our’ trip…
Once I reached the US, as expected, I was asked questions by the security personnel that did not make
sense to me. They asked me questions like, “Why are you here in the US? Or What are your plans after
graduation?” Dude, can you not see my documents? I am here to join and pursue my studies, and people
are not certain of whether they are going to awake tomorrow morning, in what sense are you asking
me about my plans after graduation? I mean, I do not know anything as of now about what I shall be
doing after my graduation four years from today. Nonetheless, no problem! I passed the security check
without much effort; I was nervous though!
My dream of getting a degree from the United States in search of better career opportunities and
prospects dragged me here. I always dreamt of how the experience of working in the Fortune 500
companies would be in reality. I am keen to step into the world of research, and experience how things
work. After all, people ultimately run after a comfortable and content life.
The next step was to tackle with other circumstances. I was a very pampered kid ever since my
childhood. My parents either postponed or entirely sacrificed their own desires to fulfill my necessities
in time. As per the culture in my country, I was sponsored for everything by my parents, including buying
the groceries and cooking meals; I was carefree. This path I had chosen to being autonomous was tough
indeed. Adapting in a new place with new people, new culture, new education system, new
responsibilities, new laws and regulations was not so easy. In my initial days, I often felt home sick and
was always scared of being in a nation with safety compromised at every single step. I had also heard of
misconducts by police in the new nation on the native citizens there; but I was relieved to know that at
least there was someone to appeal to in case of any bias. I miss my home, family, and comfort back in my
home country. Even this country has only four seasons, whereas I used to have six seasons round a year
in my motherland. Astonishing for any new learner, we celebrate the entrance of each six season with a
unique festival as directed by our religion and norms. People back in my country walk or drive on the
left side of the road, and people in the US do the same on the right side. So, I ought to rewire my brain
every time I get out of my room to go somewhere. People back in my country throw trash or spit
randomly walking or traveling down the roads; unfortunately, people doing such activities are fined or
even jailed in this new country. These might seem silly, little things but violating the laws even by
mistake could result in a significant loss of time and money. So, have to stay alert with my ears active
and my eyes wide open even while sleeping. I wish myself a Good Luck for my future endeavors!