Why Masters in the US?

When I came to the US and started talking to more and more people, I realised that not everyone here goes to college. It seemed like they had a choice, to attend college or not. People here are not expected to get a degree and then a high paying job. This was a little shocking to me as I had never been exposed to this concept back in India.

I think it has something to do with our history. India being a newly free country, has had a long story of being colonised. Just 2 or 3 generations before me, people suffered and that had a great impact on how our parents were raised. For our grandparents, basic needs were hard to come by and when we became independent, education was a clear path to success. So almost everyone in India saw education as the solution to their problems and encouraged their children (our parents) to get educated even though it was expensive. This mindset is very real even today. Even the poorest of people in the country want their children to be educated and get a good job.

My parents were a product of this mindset and passed on the same ideas to me. Education was never an option but a need. I was encouraged to study and explore, and I am privileged to have the means to pursue it. But this doesn't answer the question, why Masters in the US? Every International student has a story and it can range from a lot of things from "I like the culture and traditions" to "I wanna work in this specific company which is only in the US".

For me, it was about exploration. I love learning about new things, be it tech, cultures, new thoughts, concepts, places or even people. So when I was put into one of the 'coaching classes' for the JEE Exam (Entrance exam for Engineering colleges in India), I was suddenly exposed to a ton of knowledge which I simply couldn't fathom. It was very well complemented with the amazing teachers I had in High School who made it so much more interesting to learn. But all of it changed when I went to college. No doubt, the college was good and the syllabus was good and the teachers were good. But it wasn't about learning and exploration anymore but more about getting good grades and securing a job at the end. With COVID taking up my valuable two years of exploring, it was clear that I was lacking. In both academics and my social conscience.

A rather interesting observation was that even though I was not learning much from my college lectures, I used to watch a lot of YouTube videos, MIT lectures, Coursera, Udemy and Udacity online which was parallel to my coursework. And I realised that I actually had a chance to learn from these sources in person and that it was the right time. So with an open heart and an inquisitive mind I decided to travel halfway across the world to study at NC State University. A tough but clear decision.