It’s been a whirlwind ride after my visa got approved. With barely a day to recoup from the abating tension, I took off from Lagos to come to PSU to start a new phase of life. I hadn’t given it much thought before, but while flying it hit me. Five years. Five friggin’ years. I hadn’t been able to mentally prepare myself of studying, and independent research at that level. I was way too worried about actually getting the keys to the country, rather than the experience once I got in. I guess I was taking it one day at a time, trying not to think too far in the future. What I had a slight inkling of, was the extent of bridging I needed to get in phase with the standard of the doctoral program. I also figured that the dedication required for research at Penn State was above and beyond what I was accustomed to.

After landing at Penn State, I was off to a slightly shaky start while unable to find help to move into temporary housing. I spent about an hour to get into my room with two big suitcases, a strolley (wheeled cabin bag), and my laptop bag. Oh, why temporary housing, you ask? That’s because I was unable to secure housing off campus before getting here. Apparently, I was severely out of the loop when it came to utilizing the Indian graduate student service on Yahoo! I didn’t know that it even existed, nor did I know to expect it to exist. Anyway, I found out about it during orientation from a couple of Indians who were here for Masters program.

Which brings me to the next topic, that is, the amount of Indians on campus. It is ridiculous. Practically every brown person at orientation is Indian, or nearly statistically accurate to be termed Indian anyway. I’d say 90% of the Indians are here for a Masters program, 7% for a PhD, and 3% for under grad. Most of us are in the sciences too, with the predominant concentration on Engineering. That’s not surprising since Penn State is a top 10 Engineering school for Materials, Industrial, and Electrical. Something I’ve noticed amongst several Indians is that first they segregate themselves from the non-Indian crowd, and then into male-female halves. This is mild stereotyping, and there are a few exceptions. That being said, I met several Indians, and casually introduced myself.

Since I’ve been in the US before, most of the orientation was a review from Coe. But I did use that time to get a few critical things such as employment documentation, and health stuff done. I also found a bunch of new friends, undergrads and grads alike, who seem like a fun group. I am yet to form a solid group of grad friends, but I seem to be gelling with an undergrad group in particular which is very varied in ethnicity. It includes a couple of progressive Arab girls, a couple of Indians (including myself), a couple of Japanese, and a French exchange student. We are really cosmopolitan and bring different things to the group, if I do say so myself.. We have had several programming to bring people together, and I met most of them during some of these activity such as International Film showing where I made the 3 Peruvian PhD friends.

I do have housing after a depressing few days of hearing NOs about availability. I was lucky enough to get it, and it seems like a nice place which is really affordable. Nittany Gardens is right by Walmart which is excellent because it should be easy to get groceries. I also have met with my graduate advisor/research mentor Dr. Pantano and found out what he expects me to do in terms of classes and research. I met the rest of his group, and got an office on my own along with keys to the building.

I suppose that’s about what’s been going on for the past week in a nutshell. I am going to Washington DC, and I will be seeing Jessi during the afternoon. Then Jenn is picking me up, and I will spend a couple of days over the weekend with her. I haven’t seen her for so long. I am excited to finally get to see her again.