All these years of effort were finally coming to an end. Tomorrow was the day. He had been in and out of his lab, trying to get things set up and running. How many times he had failed and how many times he had risen again. One month ago, he was finally ready to put it altogether in writing. He had taken his sweet two weeks to write it up and voila! He was now ready for his defense. Tomorrow was his defense. Tomorrow was the end of all.

Did he feel nervous? No. Why would he get nervous? He knew he was good at what he did. He knew he would do well tomorrow.

He remembered the first day he had moved to this country. He was struck with the differences from his own country. Entirely different. That is why he was intrigued from the beginning. How could people live so differently? He wanted to find the answer. After he moved into his dorm, he set out to discover the city. The greenery in this city was stunning. It kept him hooked all these years. But he had fallen for it hard at first sight. It was love at first sight. The city was just plain gorgeous. He felt lucky to be living here. He was chosen to be living here. He felt he must be the luckiest person in this world. There was no other explanation. He had also started learning the language of the country right away. He liked the language. It felt him connected to the people there. He had adapted well overall. Now, he loved everything about this country.

He would be lucky tomorrow too. He knew that.

He then had another flashback. He remembered his mom seeing him off at the airport when he was first moving here. He saw the sadness in her eyes. He wished now that her mom could be here and watch him succeed. How proud she would be! ‘Oh mom’, he thought, ‘It was all worth it.’ ‘See, I made it!’, he added. He visualized his mom smiling at him. He smiled back at her.

As he went to bed that night, he felt peaceful but eager to wake up to the next day. Tomorrow was a big day.

[to be continued]