So the decision was made. And the time was to get the plan into action. One of the hardest decisions were to choose the state, later the university. But with the help of so many resources available online and also considering the fact that Indian students are now in a sizable number in all the good universities all across USA, it is easy to get reviews for the school. So, University of Florida was finally chosen. Various factors were considered and the best part of Florida is weather, not too hot, not too cold and a perfect student destination.
Beginning from a simple thought, the first step was to give GRE and TOEFL. Then came application to the university, acceptance and finally applying for a student visa. One of the disadvantages (I could not find any other appropriate word) of being an Indian citizen is visa issues, no matter where you go. You never get a visa easily. Being a Gujarati was an added hassle. (All the pun intended ;) ) In India you can make money in every single thing going on in your day to day life and that includes visa guidance for USA. It is a booming business and for each visa guidance they charge anywhere ranging from Rs. 5000 to Rs. 20,000. The funny part here is that even the actual visa fees are less that the consultation fees charged by those kind of agents. I also signed up with one of the VISA CONSULTANTS and paid some Rs. 6000 for just a month of consulting and getting all the paper work ready for presentation before the visa officer at the American consulate.
The day of visa arrived soon. He didn't realize one thing that the date he chose for the visa interview was actually 'Amavas'. No one in India will begin any good work on that day and his parents still believing in that, poured him with all the scolding for selecting such a date without even asking them. But all is well that ends well, and so was his visa interview for which he had been to Mumbai (previously Bombay for those who don't know). On the day of visa there were several hundred aspirants like him in the consulate and the atmosphere was so tensed for the reason whether you will get a visa or not. A few of his friends said that the interview can go on for anytime from 30 seconds to 15 minutes, and after grilling for so long, they would reject without giving a legitimate reason. To the boy's surprise, as soon as his turn was there for interview, the officer just saw his I20 which stated University of Florida and there was no interview. The only thing visa officer told him was 'Go Gators. Be proud to be a Gator'. That time he realized the value of the university he was getting into. There was no interview and he got a visa so easily in less than 10 seconds, which was most surprising as all the rigorous preparations and wasting so much money on those agents, it suddenly felt it was a total waste of time and resources.
The moment he got visa, it seemed that the world around him had changed all of a sudden. For the first time he was proud of himself, ignorant of the hardships lying ahead in USA. But that moment was a bliss and everyone in his family was happy (considering the fact that even though my parents have been staying in UAE for more than 5 years now and he has visited countries other than India, but the great Indian diaspora continues. The great dream of USA, still lives in their mind. He was the first one from his family to actually come to USA and live a life here). Visa was one big step and now came the preparation time for the great dream to really come true. Nothing is just as easy as it looks after actually achieving it. So was the preparation.
