Graduate school plans.

Due dates for graduate school applications are upon me. I'm applying to the following places:

Berkeley
Harvard
Washington, Seattle
Purdue
Carnegie Mellon
Michigan
Northwestern
Wisconsin, Madison

Unlike undergraduate admissions, it is now a total wildcard where I get in. That, obviously, creates some anxieties. Sometimes, I feel pretty optimistic about my chances. Other times, I find myself rolling in the depths of despair, hating myself for holes in my credentials that other applicants will surely be able to fill. Most of the time, I'm just playing along, curious to see this pan out. I'd like to go to top-tier schools, but I chose all these places because they each have something that I want. I'll make good use of my time, wherever I go.

And anyway, in the event that none of them want me, I have a backup plan of eventually running a restaurant empire. Despite the extremely high start-up costs and the even higher likelihood of failure, the attractiveness of this option ensures that I don't sweat about the state of my future.

India is the place where worrying excessively about anything is unsustainable, unuseful, and counterproductive. It's where I learned to just let things happen to me, and trust that I'll drift into where I'm supposed to be. As long as I enjoy myself and learn a lot in the process, then I'm in the right place, and it's with this mindset that I approach my plans for grad school. Ironic, that I learned to take it easy in a country that is defined by chaos, paradox, and unpredictability.