Rohit's American Adventure:Chapter 12. Spring 07:Getting adjusted

The only thing, which excited me apart from the 101 things which were depressing me about leaving home was the fact that I was going to move into a new apartment with new roommates, which was closer to the campus. I was finally happy and keen to start all over again in this new apartment. A good friend of mine, Ali picked me up from the airport. He had a big smile on his face, when he greeted me at Dulles International airport despite my flight being 4 hours late. I was greeted in my apartment by my new roommate and Jaganath. The first morning was painful, memories of good times back home flashed in my mind. It was great feeling to finally walk to campus without having to wait for the shuttle. I went straight to work and gave Dave Kennedy the gift ( a small dress), I had bought for his daughter. I had bought a chunari for Miss Jacquie, Mary Scott and Ariana because these women had my life wonderful.

As days passed by, I was missing home and was back to square one( the same state I was in when I had first arrived to USA in Fall 06). My weekends used to be spend watching movies and speaking with parents for hours at night on skype. This was a time to grow up and work hard rather than brood over leaving home.I did not realize that I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to pursue the American dream. I was fortunate enough to meet people to take inspiration from.

My first meeting with Rauf Ahmad, (I called him Rauf Bhai) was a professional one. He had set up my workstation at work . As days went by, I used to bump into him frequently. He used to drop in Miss Jacquie’s office for casual talks and all of us used to have a nice time. On his wedding anniversary, he was kind of emotional but had a smile on his face, which was genuine and refreshing. Here I was brooding over coming back to USA leaving my friends and family and there was Rauf bhai who was staying away from his family for almost ten years .He believes he can bring his family to USA and is working towards it. He is not brooding. He is slogging it out, with a smile on his face harboring a dream to get his family to USA.

Ankit Nagarsheth was one of my classmates and he turned out to be an extraordinary guy, who knew exactly what he wanted. He told me to take this experience of being in USA to work on my personality and to make myself independent. I never expected such words of wisdom to come from him but was glad to hear that from him.