Gradschool: Highs, Lows and the In-between[s]

Now that I have graduated (Praise the Lord!), and a month into virtually searching for employment (can also be called searching for the almost virtual employment), it is time. It is time to get back to blogging, to having a semblance of a life, to being able to eat healthy. It is also time to take measure of <enter title of the blog>.

HIGHS:

• The two Ps – they really are peas in a pod. My ex-roommates – Puja and Purva.  The most fun people to live and get drunk with, they made Austin the most fun place on the planet. Psst.. Puja, gentlemen, is still single and very much available.
• Puja’s tryst with the “Tuck-a”. Sorry people, cannot explain it anymore because it just can’t be explained! If you know Puko, ask her!!
• Jina (@jinadcruz), her fun hubby Sibin (@happygoluckyguy) and Sugaroo (@ksekher) of course! Friends on Twitter I’ve made for life hopefully. They are sweet, completely crazy and loads of fun!!

• One great friend that I made this fall – Stephie, short of Stephanie Sodeke. Her Nigerian name is Olufumilola. She laughs like a dream and sings Hindi songs with me in studio. Totally made all those hours in studio fun!
• My chick flick partner – Nivvi. All through 2010, we managed to catch the WORST chick flick movies in theater on the first Fridays they were released. Quite an achievement and hundreds of wasted dollars. I think we finally broke the jinx with Band Baaja Baraat.
• Of course, my good luck charm – single-handedly got me fantastic grades, TAs and happiness this year. A terrific find and I have only myself to praise!
• Pranav – the guy who drove me to a Granbury which is in the middle of nowhere for 3.5 hours, waited in the hot, hot, car under a blistering Texas sun until I finished my case study and then drove me back to Austin. If my mom wants to use her favorite phrase, now would be the time. She’d say, “a gem of a man”.
• Roni, another friend I am keeping for life. After all, she taught me that in Iraqi Arabic, men say “Ach bitch” or something akin to that to a woman to say I love you.
• Tamanna, aka @frenchmelange on Twitter – totally loved her blog posts and the coffees we shared.
• Meaow, my mom. She gets the “whiney award of the year” for whining about my sister’s unwed state all the while making our days bright with laughter and joy.
• My program director Dr. Michael Holleran’s expressions – well worth a watch, especially the fun when he goes “Oh!” with his hands pasted to either side of his well-rounded cheeks in a review session.
• My thesis supervisor Prof. Carl Matthews – complete “item” as one would say in India! He explained to me the importance of 1/8″ by using “the energy between me and my significant other right before kissing, when our lips are just 1/8th of an inch apart”. Yes, this is exactly what he said, in class!!
• My two studio-mates Mike and Jake who had the habit of saying, ” I Jai-Ho-ed it!” every time they finished a project. (Yes, they learned that from Slumdog and no, they do not know what Jai Ho means.)
• Finding an Indian restaurant called “Garage Mahal”. I am not kidding.
• Canoeing in Town Lake. Rather, Pradeep and I trying to keep our canoe straight while Purva tried her best to steer us diagonally across the lake. She succeeded for the most part!
• Seeing Obama. Yes, the President. He came to UT Austin to make a speech and the VP’s office that I worked for in the summer was kind enough to give me a pass. So there, I saw and heard President Obama. He was literally 12 feet away!
• Southwest Airlines – Thank you whoever you are on the Southwest team in charge of service. You guys rock!
• All those site visits associated with grad work. Especially the one to Menard in West Texas where I sat around a table with men in sombreros discussing the sad state of hunting and eating home-made jerky. I also saw armadillos! And Llamas!
• Total star power radiated at the NTHP-UT Austin visit. (NOT going to show off any further!)

Lows:

• The last grade that I got on the last day before graduation. I swear it was most unfair. (Still in resentment.)
• Time away from home – sucked!
• The terrible, terrible summer in Austin. If any of you Indians think India is bad in the summers, visit Austin. You’ll change your minds I assure you! (But then, the winter is so beautiful that I’ve completely forgiven the Texas summer.)
• All the move-ins and move-outs. There was one in January (cross country), one in June (across town), and one in December (cross country again). Then, again, had to also unpack the” family belongings” in January. So that’s a total of 3 move-outs and 4.5 move-ins. I NEVER want to move again.

In-Between[s] – these are the ones that I cannot decide if it’s a high or a low:

• Being mistaken multiple times as a Spanish-speaking person.
• Being hit on by a burly cop in 7-11. (Of all places! And all people!)
• The manager of Einstein Bros. calling me by my first name and placing my order even before I did.
• Being told that I am too good at space planning. (Did that perversely mean that I am bad at other things architectural?!)

At the end of it, I see that my list of highs is way higher than my list of lows. Good year, you think??

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