Growing Pains in a Foreign Land
#CultivateContest- Challenges that forced me to grow in unexpected ways
Growth is popular. Economists, Politicians, Entrepreneurs, and laymen are all obsessed with it. However, what is not popular is the growing pain that accompanies it. Change is never easy even when it is for the better in the long term. It is always in hindsight that we learn to value our growth-inducing experiences.
This is the story about one such experience in my life.
The Move
In September 2015 I moved to Spain. I was fortunate to be starting a graduate program, leading to Ph.D., on a full scholarship that also paid a stipend. I had earned a bachelor's in Economics the same year and thought that the most logical next step was to move abroad for graduate school like many of my peers were planning to. Without much guidance about the different graduate programs and career options, I had applied to programs that offered scholarships and just thought that I will figure out the rest.
In addition to my career aspirations, my decision to move abroad was the result of a desire for a change of place. My personal life had left me confused and in a strange state of mind. Suffice it to say that I ended up in Getafe, a suburb of Madrid, in need of a direction for my life…
