Australia day 2008

Australia day occurred on the 26th of January 2008.

This day is very significant to a lot of Australians and has a lot of meaning in the history of Australia. It's even more significant for me personally as this is the day when I arrived in Australia for the first time. It was on this day back in 1999 that I came to Australia with hopes and dreams and great uncertainty. I had no idea what the future might hold for me and my time in Australia. Initially, I had planned on staying here for only 6-8 months as I wanted to head on to the US to pursue my educational goals. Taking a step back to give you some background, I had initially planned on going to the US for studies; however I was late in the application submission and hence missed the deadline. I was faced with the consequence of wasting about 9-10 months. I took the opportunity to come to Australia when my father was informed of a good degree program in Melbourne. How he got to know about this program is yet another story. Things just came to shape pretty quickly and I ended up in Australia in January to study till about July and then heading to the US. This was not to be as once I was here, I was settled in and enjoying my time in the culture and life here.

Since then it has been a long journey of 9 years. Quite a few huge milestones have been accomplished while living here.

• Finishing my studies and graduating from my Bachelor’s degree and then subsequently my Master’s degree
• Getting married and starting my married life
• Moving to Sydney from Melbourne
• Starting my professional career
• Becoming an Australian citizen

There are quite a few milestones in between all of the above, but I think the list above is of a huge significance to my life and the way it has moved forward. I am moving towards another huge milestone in my life, and Australia is in the thick of it.

In my previous post I mentioned that change is inevitable. Looking at the list above and what is going to occur in the future, change IS inevitable and it is our ability to deal with the change and make things happen is how we make our life filled with fond memories. I certainly have experienced many good memories in my time here in Australia and look forward to many great experiences in the future.