It’s been 10 days since I graduated (okay, 9 days to be precise). Time really does pass by quickly. I feel like I landed in USA a few months back though it’s been nearly 2 years since I step foot here. I guess when I landed here I must have had crazy dreams of a 100K job lined up when I graduate, fun trips to Miami and Vegas, huge social network etc. Being an international graduate student enrolled in a STEM major leaves you with barely any time to explore the outside world. The high academic workload coupled with internship and job search makes sure that you don’t slack off. It’s good in a way though, keeps you mentally active but then again, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. I have noticed that my usual life of sitting infront of a laptop or computer and working all day has led to deterioration of my social skills. Also the current COVID situation has prevented me from even making an attempt at socialising 😂.

Stimulation of the right (creative) side of the brain is often neglected by people in STEM. I figured that given the current circumstances the world is in and the not so-good-outlook of my job-search efforts, starting a blog is a good way to motivate myself, tap into my creative self and stay upbeat( especially about life in general). This website took two days to create, not bad for someone who lost touch with front-end long ago. It’s great that open-source code is so freely available in this time and age. You can literally do anything you want to if you know how to code. However, coding does take time to be good at.

Life is very weird, for some things go according to plan, for others things go nothing as per their plan. Then you have those who never plan and have a totally nomadic approach of living in the moment and going wherever the wind takes them. I have seen success and failure cases in all the three viewpoints. I am figuring out where do I fit in. Honestly I am a mix of all three. But then again, it’s a common flaw of us humans to broadly categorize all phenomena into finite categories. If anything life has taught me, it is that the variables involved in the working of this universe is uncountable. Hence, maybe we should just go our own route treating every action of ours as a learning experience. Learning experience is often conflated with right and wrong doing. In my opinion it’s more of what is apt for the situation at hand. Sometimes making a plan makes sense like going to buy groceries. Other times it makes no sense like going to an unknown restaurant to try new food.

I feel the same mindset should be applied to life too in general. Regret is obviously another thing that needs to be handled carefully. Epicurean way of life would be freedom from regret and emphasis of pleasure but if you ask sportsmen who never lived up to their potential due to their fondness for worldly pleasures in their youth, many would say they regret their past and wish if they were more focused. Again the notion that the variables are uncountable holds true. There is no panacea, there’s only life.

Some people might argue that epistemology is futile if the variables are uncountable. They might say that if such was the case then there would be no modern science or no progression of mankind. They might suggest that there’s no point of life. Well we humans are restless beings and will go mad if we sit idle. Hence, we have to keep doing something to keep our minds active. Like me writing this and you reading this 😉. Our minds have to be engaged continuously else there’s no point of us living. This alone is the primary driving force for mankind. People want to do something and achieve something. This achievement is seen as progression for mankind in that field. Humans’s desires and their extreme willingness to explore is the main reason why humans are no longer apes.

I remember a famous personality’s interview where he said,” I believe 24/7 that I am in a jungle, this forces me to be cautious and not indulge in debauchery which’ll make me an easy prey for others. “. I found this quite interesting. It’s his desire not be hoodwinked again and willingness to be on his toes which led him to construct such a watchful frame of mind for himself.

Frankly speaking, my situation as an international student living by myself and searching for jobs in a foreign country has led me to ponder over these things. If I was in my home country in the comfort of my family, I would have become complacent without any desire or willingness to explore, leading to just another futile life.

Let’s see what’s in store for me, I’ll reflect again a month later in the continuation of this series. Let’s call it Ramblings for now.