“We can't be afraid of change. You may feel very secure in the pond that you are in, but if you never venture out of it, you will never know that there is such a thing as an ocean, a sea. Holding onto something that is good for you now, may be the very reason why you don't have something better.”

― C. JoyBell C.

I have been a shy kid who grew up in a protective environment. At the age of 18, I left home to pursue college in the States... well, that was never the plan. I always thought that I would live close to home. But surprisingly enough, the decision to go abroad was sudden and a part of me was not sure if it was right. For the first time, I wanted to leave home to be on my own. Some of you might think “Who wants to leave the comfort of home?” Nobody does! But somehow I was convinced that living away from home will give me a sense of freedom and responsibility that is often lost being with people who always look after you.

Well, I was not completely wrong. Moving to Atlanta for college was a big change. Not everything happened exactly as I imagined. For instance, I never imagined my freshman roommate to continue rooming with me through my sophomore year and not just that but be one of my best friends at Tech. I never imagined I would suffer from an eating disorder soon into college and gain more pounds than the dreaded freshman 15. I never imagined that I would lose touch with some of the people I once hung out with. In fact while some friendships changed over times, some grew stronger and some new friendships were found.

Fast forward to this summer, I moved cities from Atlanta to Bombay for my summer internship. And things have changed again. The apartment I live in has no air conditioning so I have to deal with the heat and humidity with an old-fashioned fan strung high up on the ceiling. The people I talk to most of the time are my teammates and my roommate.

At times the wifi speed is poor. And the first few days I couldn’t sleep well at all. But slowly things are settling, my teammate is way more helpful and communicative than I thought he would be. My roommate is caring and has similar interests as I do. Over the weekends I get to hang out with my friends who are in the city and have a great time exploring the city as well. Also being away from all my friends at Tech has made me realize how much I love and care for them and that’s why I miss them dearly.

So here’s what I learned — Change is constant, and is in fact necessary. Not just change of cities but change of interests, change of friends, change of environment, change of values, change of mind. Any kind of change is possible, at any period of time in our lives. When approached by change embrace it, even if it may seem daunting tell yourself that the fear will pass.

For every change brings something new. Sometimes we realize what works and at other times we understand what works by eliminating what doesn’t work. So this is for all the souls going through some major changes in their lives, remember that every change in your life will make you more resilient if you stick through it. So whether you are starting off at a new job, taking new classes, starting a new company, moving to a different city or moving back to home, embrace the change and be patient enough to see what unfolds.