deviationz .LOG

Time sure does fly fast. As I sit at the airport waiting to fly out of Roanoke, there are a lot of memories of my graduate study at Virginia Tech. It only seems like yesterday that I landed in the US and came to Blacksburg. As I walked into my department to bid adieu to my advisor and my faculty members, it seemed like Fall 2003 and it was like walking into Patton Hall (my department building) for the first time.

I have moved on from being a student and am entering the professional world. It is a world where deadlines mean something, where you can’t wear a wrinkled t-shirt and a torn jeans, where you can’t stay awake till 4 a.m. and wake up at 8 a.m and get to class, where you can’t postpone things to the last minute, where you can’t do a lot of things.

I hear the boarding call………….this will continue

Update: I am headed to Miami (I sure know it will turn a lot of heads), but I did deliberate over it. I will be starting full time with Bliss and Nyitray on May 23.

Today was a big day. Apparently (according to my advisor) I turned down a potential six figure salary job to take up a job that offers me half the amount. But again, as I said before it was too specialized a job which had a great chance that I would be in a “pigeon hole”. Whatever the hole, I feel a little sad that I rejected a starting salary of six figures.

On another note, I successfully defended my thesis today and set a record of sorts for one of the shortest defenses (55 minutes from start to finish) , the reason for which according to my advisor was that it was a comprehensive thesis and the presentation was clear enough for people not to raise a lot of issues.

In short, its was a “wow” day.

….to the question “Now what ??” is finally here. I have an offer from a industry-recognized design firm in Miami. I also have an offer from another top design firm in Atlanta, and an interview with a kickass firm in Stockton, Calif. The last one I mentioned is for an R&D engineer, and if my advisor was right, I would be making big money. But the only problem with that job would be that it is too specialized (I would be doing high end FEA for their new products for a living). Chances of diversification are not much if I take up that job, but the money could be big.

I just wanted one job, because I suck at choosing. Now I have to make up my mind between Miami, Atlanta and Stockton. I am sure the Miami firm is paying more than the Atlanta firm (cos I am yet to get the formal figures from ATL, but I am guessing here based on our discussions). Considering the kind of work both firms do, I think I would choose the Miami firm over the Atlanta firm. Now comes Stockton. Big money vs. career growth. Now what ??

Ooops!!! Did I not mention that I had found the answer to the question??? Sadly, now I am back where I was. Sigh !! I am going to be defending my thesis tomorrow, and I guess I need to make a decision before graduation (Friday, the 13th).

Good news is that I am no longer jobless !!

I don’t usually get a lot of mixed feelings but this one has lasted more than 2 weeks now (that was when I submitted the first draft of my thesis). That morning was one of the weirdest I have had in a while. After an all-nighter fixing up some font issues and images, I felt unbelievably fresh with a sense of relief. Relief you can imagine, but it was coupled with a feeling of void. I suddenly felt I had a lot of time in my hand and too little to do. But that lasted only for a couple of days since my advisor, the nice guy that he is (he actually is !!), asked me to do a few more analyses so that we could be all ready for a publication. So 2 days of *real* work again, and I fixed up most of the things that he needed. And I gave him what I think will be my thesis’s final draft. And the void is back again. I think I really need to get a job real soon. I am attending a lot of interviews, but the companies are taking their own time. The waiting is the most painful, where you never know what the future holds for you.

Graduate school and research were probably one of the most memorable in my life, but again good things do come to an end soon. And now what ???