Reflecting on Exchange Semester in New Zealand

I have bitched a lot about wellesley student apartments which violated my earlier principle not to write anything bad about anybody on my blog. So I decided instead of saying good things about WSA (which would be a lie of course), I won't say anything. I don't want to use my blog for bitching anyway. Self-talk works much better and has no repercussions. Let's talk something else.

I reflect on my five months I have spent in New Zealand and it seems like I have lived a dramatically different life than I was used to living hitherto. For the first time in my life, I did not have to study to get an A. I was not chasing after anything (besides chicks :D). Grades were secondary for me. Believe it or not, this was a big change for me because I was always used to getting good grades, often the best in my class. I graduated from the best high school of Nepal as a valedictorian. Big deal, you might say. It was big deal in a way at that time. I had a final couple days ago and I walked out proudly with half an hour remaining on the clock. I knew I could have spent some more time trying to recheck my answers or simply spending more time thinking about questions I might not have answered properly. But I didn't care. And this seemingly insignificant activity was symbolic for me. I was in control. For the first time I felt, "I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul."

How long can we live our lives chasing after a goal? Starting from birth, we are always in this race. To get better toys, we need better grades then to get scholarship and a placement into good college, you need good grades, SAT score, recommendation letters, et cetera. To get good recommendation letters, you have to do what teachers say. Always follow what they tell you to and impress them. Once you are in college, then you need to get good grades yet again if you want to go to Grad school or get a good job. Give us a break.

How wonderful would life be if we could just lie in the Sun on a beautiful day in a park somewhere and read a book of our choice? That would make us happy, healthy and somewhat intelligent too since we are reading . I mostly read non-fiction so reading for me usually entails lots of knowledge. Well this is exactly what I did on numerous days here in New Zealand. All university courses were pass/fail only since I was in NZ for an exchange only. This gave me flexibility to design and lead the life I wanted. I could spend time doing what I desired. I could bury myself in the library reading what I was interested in instead of solving some random engineering problems or thermodynamics equations.

I think you got the idea. I will miss New Zealand for all this.