It was a solid 3 a.m. Saturday, I remembered. “Dear Ms. Kinanthi Maheswari, Congratulations! We would like to welcome you to Boston University for Innovation and Entrepreneurship summer program 2023….”. Long story short, I cried. My residence advisor, I am sorry because I was not praying fajr at the mosque and ended up cleaning on Sunday. The vague scenes of me in a subway, trying Chick-fil-A, and even achieving a so — called “American Dream” have become crystal clear. I sat on the edge of that bed covered with a sky blue bed sheet. “This is unreal,” I said. This was an exceptionally extraordinary chance for someone who was 16 years old and had never gone abroad.
Took me a while to process that the email was a part of things that happen during my day, in a conscious mind, not me being delusional and hoping I will have a 29-hour flight. — It was real.