#TransferTalk series! 🇮🇳✈️🇺🇸🗽💜

Summing up my academic year at NYU!💜🗽 

In August 2024, I landed in NYC alone with two heavy suitcases and an even heavier heart full of excitement and uncertainty. I was stepping into a new culture, country, and academic system. The first week felt like a blur of welcome events, networking, and nonstop socialising. I felt I had to be “on” all the time. By the end of the week, I broke down. My sister’s best friend helped me settle in initially, but once she left and classes began, it hit me. I cried before every class, struggled to speak up, and just wanted to go back to India, back to familiarity and comfort.

But slowly, I found small anchors. I kept myself busy with work, joined the gym, and reminded myself why I came here, to grow, to learn and to chase opportunities that I once dreamed of. I reached out to my Developmental Psychology professor, applied to several research labs at NYU, and within a week, I got in. That changed everything. For the first time since I arrived, I started enjoying my days. I began having real conversations with people in the lab, and slowly, I stopped breaking down. The lab became my escape , a space where I felt seen, valued, and productive. It gave me structure, and with that, I finally built a routine. I also pushed myself to attend dorm events, where I started meeting others who were figuring things out just like me. That was my Fall semester, full of trial, error, small wins, and slow healing.🧿🌟 

Academically, the transition wasn’t easy either. Coming from an Indian education system that heavily emphasizes rote learning, I often didn’t know how to contribute to class discussions. I struggled with the idea that my voice mattered in a classroom. The exam formats were completely different too, more applied, more analytical. But with time, I began to love that shift. I started enjoying the challenge of NYU exams, the way they made me think critically, apply concepts, and truly understand what I was studying, not just memorise it. 📚📑 

Just as I started figuring things out, Fall ended. But Spring came with clarity and confidence, I now understood how NYU worked. Though the semester was packed with work, I didn’t dread it. I made two close friends in class, and we became each other’s support system, studying together, helping each other, and celebrating small wins like speaking up in class with little treats. At the lab, I found amazing friends too. The work became something I looked forward to, and I discovered how much I enjoy research, especially working with children and collaborating as a team.

And I’d like to end this post here with this:

✨ Give it time, you may start to love what once felt scary.

✨ Don’t write something off until you’ve truly tried it.

I thought I hated research but turns out, I just hadn’t given it a real shot. Every uncertainty and new situation deserves patience. Everyone adjusts at a different pace, and that’s okay. 🧿