If I Went to Stony Brook...

"Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life."

I was in class on Wednesday when my professor asked us to raise our hands if we were from out-of-state. Unfortunately, I was the only one so he asked me where I was from and after I replied, he immediately replied "then what the hell are you doing at Rutgers?!" Although everyone laughed at the time, I thought about what I had expected in the past and wondered if I had made the right decision. Here's what came to mind:

If I Went to Stony Brook:

1. I wouldn't be taking out so many loans for school.
2. I wouldn't be attending a Yuvati Kendra every Tuesday. 
3. I wouldn't be a part of Asian Student Council.
4. I wouldn't have seen Shambu Dada before he passed away. 
5. I would have been with my family when Tejalben passed away which would have made things easier. (Although I am so grateful I had my sisters here with me.)
6. I wouldn't be living in an apartment with three of the most amazing girls. (And I wouldn't have such awesome neighbors.)
7. I would still be keeping in touch with many high school friends.
8. I would have more time to see Mr. Sheehan.
9. I wouldn't miss Nicku's concerts, games or Courts of Honor.
10. I wouldn't be sitting on the VPLC. 
11. I wouldn't be trying to many different kinds of foods. 
12. I obviously wouldn't have all of my Rutgers friends in my life. 
13. I would probably still be arguing with Mom a lot because we wouldn't have had a reason to appreciate each other more (although we have been best friends, always). 
14. I would see my cousins a lot more.
15. I wouldn't have met Amar yet!
16. I wouldn't be so close with Dilipbhai and Sonalbhabhi. 
17. I wouldn't appreciate the little things in life, like sitting at Boyd Park or playing a game of Empire with friends.
18. I would see my dance girls more often.
19. I would have been at home when Nick got hurt. 
20. I wouldn't miss so many family dinners...especially Shraad dinners for my Dadas.
21. I would still be tutoring Mit...I would have still been a part of his life when Masa passed away.
22. I wouldn't have had an awful experience at Enterprise in North Brunswick. Which also means that I wouldn't have Chris in my life.
23. I wouldn't be able to plan Mickyben's wedding as effectively.
24. I wouldn't have had the most awesome snowball fight this morning. (With Radhi, Vatsa, Smeet, Parth, Pranav and Hardik)
25. I wouldn't be a business major.
26. I wouldn't have had the health issues I did last year...maybe.
27. I wouldn't have learned so much from Jersey zone.
28. I would have been able to work at Coco's for a longer period of time.
29. Karma would probably love me more if I saw him more.
30. I would be getting more dollars from my Mama. 
31. I wouldn't be sitting here with some awesome people (Suhash, Neel, Parth, Smeet, Radhi, Nilam & Hardik.) ...after an awesome lunch, dinner & game of "don't touch your cell phone or you have to do the dishes".
32. I wouldn't have had an awesome night discovering the issues I have with my Diamond of Trust (Mohini, Suhash & Smeet).

I know there's so much that I'm missing here, but without thinking about it, that's all I guess. Don't overanalyze it, just realize that it's a way to list things out and put things in perspective. If someone asked me right now if I'm happy with my decision, I'd know my answer is a heartbeat...I wouldn't sit there and think about all of these responses. I hope that that's how you feel about the major decisions you make in your life.

So long <3