Pranshu Garg (BT/EE/2019) shares his experience of studying in a foreign university, challenges and learnings.
1. What are you currently pursuing?
I am pursuing an MS in Electrical and Computer Engineering at UCLA. My focus is on Circuits and Embedded Systems while my research domain is an intersection of Analog Computing, Neuromorphic Computing, and Neural Accelerators.
2. What made you choose your current University?
UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Sciences has an extremely strong ECE department. It is especially known for its Circuits group which is my broad area of interest. Circuits faculty here are at the vanguard of innovation in the field and the course catalogue is really diverse which has allowed me to learn about all relevant subdomains and fulfill my basic motivation to pursue higher education. Being located in LA, I get a lot of intercultural experience which I value a lot as a part of a university system. While my other options were very comparable, UCLA provided me the best mix of everything I wanted from my MS.
3. Challenges faced initially.
Moving to a new nation comes mostly with adjustment problems. I had to get used to the new social norms for example being more polite than I am used to being in India. Since there is such a variety of people from various cultural backgrounds, it is very easy to be oblivious of what might not be appropriate to say to someone. The banking system is completely different and so is the adherence to traffic rules. I had to re-learn driving, being accustomed to driving on the left side of the road in India. It is especially difficult initially to get used to spending in dollars. Everything seems extremely expensive when converted to INR, good pizza is 700 INR for 11”. It is also very important to set up a system with your roommates to deal with domestic chores to avoid minor annoyances at the place of living. A place where you can crash without any drama would seem very important in the quarter system. Coming to that, the quarter system is crazy. It gets so bad so fast, that the first time you go through it, you may not even realize what happened that made your life get so wrecked. But these were just minor annoyances compared to what I went through when I was struck with a chronic disease that surfaced one week after I landed in the USA. For almost the whole first quarter, I was on heavy medication and crutches. It was terrible, but it should inform anyone to expect the worst and be prepared to face the challenges which might come after you move so far away from everyone you know and love that going to them can only happen once in a blue moon.
4. Life learning (after joining the University).
My illness humbled me and I got to understand the challenges people with disabilities face in their lives on a daily basis. I would cry facing those issues just for two months. I have become extremely considerate of my behaviour and courtesy around people who face such problems.Through my interactions, I have also learnt how subtle differences in culture and background can bring about huge changes in personality and behaviour. This has brought a completely new perspective to me and I am always eager to learn about other cultures.
5. Non-academic activities that are undertaken.
I am part of a program called ‘Global Siblings’ conducted by the International Students Center of UCLA. They put students in a family of people all from different home countries and each person has a sibling, where the sibling pair is a duo of an international student and an American citizen. This is an amazing program and has given me so much inter-cultural experience in such a short amount of time investment that I am bound to recommend it to anyone who asks me about stuff to join on the campus. I am also very fond of cooking food and this is the first time I am cooking for myself for all meals. I have to accept it does get tedious, especially in the last couple of weeks but I have totally improved my culinary skills and self-sustenance quotient. Exploring LA is another activity of its own and a rather fun one. While I haven’t been able to visit Universal Studios and Disneyland yet, I am just waiting for the quarantine to be over. FYI, LA is probably the only place in the world where you can ski and surf on the same day.
6. A most memorable moment in the past year. (after joining the University)
Apart from the day I was able to walk again without crutches, we had the chance to visit Marina Del Rey for a kayaking day out. It was incredible with the cold water and bright sun and so many sea creatures. The most fun moment was when we didn’t realize that two seals were mating and went really close to the herd basking in the sun. That seal was furious, to say the least.
7. Experience of studying in a multicultural environment.
I couldn’t have imagined how having so many different cultures in a class could affect one’s academic environment. The methodology of studying and approach to problems was defined by the different educational systems people belonged to. Apart from academics, it is very informative to learn how different people feel about their country/culture compared to that of America. The US understandably serves as the common ground for comparison. We can appreciate the politics, social issues etc. much better when we have some insider’s perspective. At the same time, being in such an environment makes communication all the more important since you might say ignorant things to people without even knowing. On the other end, if someone says something similar to you, you should be understanding and explain to the other person how it is not a good thing to say to people from your background. Last but not least, I have been amazed by just how talented people are here. I know people who are working full time while having a full-time enrollment at the university, it’s crazy. It has been an awesome experience so far and I am looking forward to my remaining time here.
