“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenges and controversy” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
My ambition is to become an independent woman and travel the world. I did my schooling in the state of Kuwait. Studying in a different country, you meet students and teachers of different parts of India and the world. Being so, the language spoken around was English. I spoke English at school, and this followed suit at home. I stopped speaking Malayalam and slowly, my fluency in the latter dropped. I did not think that it would be that big of an issue, but little did I know that I was wrong.
I did my bachelor’s degree in engineering in my home state, Kerala. I had assumed that everyone would speak English, but I was incorrect. Most of my classmates spoke Malayalam and I felt I was in a place I did not belong. It was difficult for me to make friends and slowly, I started to seclude myself from everyone. College academics were hard for me to adjust to. From the relaxed schedule of school to the hectic schedule of college, I felt my life was falling apart. Questions like would I ever graduate. or did I make the right choice ran through my mind most of the time. I spent my first 5 semesters feeling bad for myself and feeling nothing but remorse and regret. I was lucky to have my family to support me through those tough semesters and they gave me the courage to stand up and finally make a change in my life rather than complaining about it.
My Malayalam had improved during college so far and I decided to talk to my classmates more in Malayalam to improve it and to gain confidence in myself. I planned my studies to effectively utilize my time for academics and for leisure. I told myself to never go back to my old self and by the time I had finished college, I had no back logs, a good CGPA and a great set of friends.
My father had to travel and still around the world for official reasons. He has travelled to Italy, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and many more places and I was always fascinated by new places, which means new stories, new culture and the wonderful things to learn from the place and its people. I will work hard to make sure my dream of visiting these new places are achieved.
