Three large boxes were tearing at the edges as they sat in the middle of the empty room. Each of them held a piece of Nirav and I’s life inside—one with our clothing, one with the necessities that couldn’t be rebought in America, and the last one with sentimental items we didn’t dare leave behind in India. For me, it was the hand-sewn clothing my mother made for me and a photo album filled with photos of my family from my childhood. For Nirav, it was his grandfather’s pocketknife and journals which were passed down to him. It was difficult to see the pieces of our lives condensed and packed away in deteriorating cardboard.
But this move across the globe wasn’t for nothing. An opportunity presented itself to both Nira. Both of us were engineers and directly after our studies, we found stable jobs in our field. We were quite lucky in that regard. Our jobs in India allowed us to put our knowledge to the test, each of us proved that we had the skills and abilities to show our worth. Things were smooth for years, but then Nirav heard about a program in the United States that needed a new cohort of experienced engineers.
When he told me this, I laughed. “The program needs to be worthwhile if it involves moving out of the country.”
My husband didn’t laugh when I said that, though. I could tell he was serious about this opportunity—that maybe it would change our lives permanently.
“The job is with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration,” Nirav said. His expression made it seem like he didn’t believe his own words. Maybe it was too good to be true.
“What?” I asked, unsure what else to say. I stepped next to him to look at his computer screen and read the qualifications for the job. His experience was a perfect fit.
My nerves took over and I paced our home back and forth. Moving to America wasn’t something I ever thought about doing in my life. Sure, the opportunity was almost too good to turn down. But what about our lives in India? It was all Nirav and I knew. Everyone we loved was there. All of our memories, our traditions, and customs. What would it be like to start over in a foreign land? Life would become a blank slate. We would have to adapt quickly.
His acceptance was what led to me standing alone in our new home, staring at the stack of boxes holding our lives. Nirav conducted two rounds of interviews with the Space Administration and was formally offered an engineering position. Our move to the United States meant we were giving up a lot. I was forced to resign from my engineering job and it was one of the hardest things I’d ever done. My work became my passion over the years, and there was no guarantee America would accept me and my background, especially with a language barrier. I worried I’d never work in an engineering job ever again. Nirav was moving up, but where would that leave me and my accomplishments?
“Are you ready to set everything up?” he asked me and pulled my thoughts away from the past. His voice echoed off the stark white walls and it reminded me of how empty our new home was. We certainly did not have enough items to fill the space.
Nirav noticed my silence. “What is wrong, Anisha?”
I frowned at the ground. Explaining my feelings felt trivial. My husband was in the same situation, and he was fine. But I was on the verge of tears, wishing I could make the flight back home to India and never return to America.
“I need time to get used to this.”
Nirav wrapped his arms around me in a hug. “This is good for us. We will be okay.”
It was easier for him to believe what he said. His new job offered him a level of prestige he’d never known. Everyone in India was shocked when he received the offer. Our families couldn’t be more proud. I was too, I just needed time. I needed to create a new life for myself in America and familiarize myself with an entirely new world.
My husband and I unpacked our boxes. We took our time setting everything up, but we would still need furniture. Nirav ordered a bed, desk, and sofa for us but the delivery was delayed. How long would we have to live in the skeleton of a home?
On his first day of work, Nirav left me with our new form of currency so that I could go to the local store to buy food. He was far more experienced speaking in English than I was. We were supposed to practice on the plane ride from India, but we never did. I was on my own now.
The store was within walking distance from our apartment, and Nirav promised it would have everything we needed. But I knew nothing about American food and didn’t have much hope they sold food items I might recognize. I would also have to communicate with people at the store, which worried me.
I got dressed and followed the sidewalk in the direction that Nirav explained to me. He said it was easy to find. Still, I hated how I felt so out of place. But I paid close attention to the signs on the buildings and knew I was in the right place when I saw one that said Grocery.
Inside, the smells that greeted me were like nothing I’d smelled before. A man by the door stood in front of a small grill where he was cooking some kind of meat and serving it to shoppers. “Free Samples!” he called out.
I grabbed one of the green baskets at the front of the store to hold my items as I browsed the food. To my surprise, I found a few items that felt like home—Naan, Ghee butter, and pre-cooked vegetable Samosas. There was no guess about how they tasted in America, but it was worth trying, at least for the familiarity. Across the store, I scanned the beverages. There were so many I’d never seen before in India. A woman next to me started to speak and then she stared at me. I couldn’t understand what she was asking me.
“No English,” I told her and attempted to apologize.
She asked another question, this time pointing towards the front of the store. She looked frustrated, and it made me wonder if I’d done something wrong. I left the beveraege section and hurried to the cashier to pay.
“Hello,” he greeted me with a friendly smile. I grinned back to be polite but my eyes were blurry with tears of defeat. I was smart and successful in India. I had no problem communicating with people, especially successful people at work. But in America, I couldn’t even discuss food items or answer a stranger’s question.
I paid for the food items and left the store in a rush. The more I thought about it, I realized I counted the money quickly and worried I may have overpaid for them because I was unsure of the numbers on the bills. Back at home, Nirav arrived home and was thrilled about his first day of work.
“Anisha. This program is incredible. I can’t wait for you to take a tour of the buildings and see the equipment,” he said. The thought of going to his work was even more daunting than the grocery store or any other simple task. But struggling to communicate with his new colleagues would be embarrassing for both of us.
“I need to learn more English before that,” I told him.
Nirav agreed and offered up a suggestion. “Well, the program will continue to hire engineers. They will be impressed with your work. You could become eligible once your English improves.”
“I’m not sure that can ever happen.”
“Why not?”
I sighed. “I’ve tried but it has been a struggle to learn. At the grocery store, a woman was asking me questions and even got angry at me. That alone makes me never want to learn.”
Nirav hugged me. “I think the opposite is true. Living in America will challenge you to learn English and perfect the language. You are an overachiever. You are the kind of woman who could become fluent in English, and nobody would ever question it.”
My husband was always good at picking me up when I was down. He encouraged me through school and the early days of my engineering career. He was doing the same thing during the transition to life in America.
“Do you really believe that?” I asked him.
“Absolutely.”
That night I set a new goal to learn more English every day. In the grocery store, there was a small section of books, and the next time I went, I picked one out. The cover had a few basic words I could read. Each morning, I opened that book to read a few pages. Nirav helped me in the evenings, and it was exciting to learn again and feel like I was accomplishing something. It reminded me of studying engineering.
Within a few months, everything became easier, and the anxiety I felt about life in America as an Indian woman faded. Reading and speaking in English became a habit. But I still wasn’t entirely confident to start applying for jobs, especially with the Space Administration where Nirav worked. He had an idea to hire an English tutor to help build my confidence.
Christina was a friendly woman who was eager to help me. I explained to her that I wanted to grow my confidence so I could start building my career in America. I’d learned the basics and most of the necessary language needed to co-exist. But I wanted to be like Nirav and become fluent. She and I met once a week to work on my English skills in a variety of ways. Nirav provided her with information about our careers in engineering with parts of the language that I would need to know to successfully work with the Space Administration. Christina quizzed me on the terms and created prompts for work situations that may happen in the department.
All of the practice built my confidence higher and higher. I was prepared to handle myself in the workplace, and all that I needed to do was apply to one of the openings. Nirav spoke with his managers to notify them that I would be applying for another engineering role. He even shared my experience and previous career details—which he said they were impressed by.
“I’m ready for my interview,” I told my husband one morning before he went to work. I’d received the call the day prior that the program wanted to interview me and took the first time slot to interview.
“I already know you’ll get the job. You’ve worked so hard,” he said.
The interview went well, but weeks passed before I heard any news about the position. With each passing day, the confidence I worked so hard to cultivate was disappearing. Nirav told me, once again, not to give up hope. However, I felt it was impossible, and like a fool for thinking I could achieve a career in the same place he did. I would have to start at the bottom of the engineering field and work my way up again.
But when I was at my lowest yet, the call came. The one that changed everything. The call that made me feel worthy of being in America and would revive the career I worked so hard to build in India.
“We’d like to offer you the position in the engineering department, Arisha.”
That sentence was music to my ears. My acceptance was accompanied by tears of joy. Feeling like an outsider, and struggling proved to be worthwhile in the end. I realized in that moment I wouldn’t trade the hard times because they were what helped me grow in a place I never thought I would live, let alone pursue a career in. An opportunity called, and we accepted it. Nirav and I were living a life that we only could have dreamed about as ambitious students in India.
We became proof that when an opportunity calls, you should always take it. Leap for it, if you must.