I met with a Phd acquaintance after 5 years - He looked destroyed.

In my grad school days, I was that eager kid, always ready to dive headfirst into any learning opportunity that came my way. My thirst for knowledge was unquenchable, and my time at grad school was a whirlwind of experiments and discoveries. It was a time of no regrets, a period of my life that shaped who I am today.

In the midst of this academic adventure, I met Abdul, a fellow student from Saudi Arabia, who was working on his Ph.D. in cybersecurity, while I was pursuing my master’s in the same field. Our paths crossed occasionally, and I helped him with his work from time to time. Abdul was undoubtedly intelligent, but there was something about him that didn’t quite scream ‘Ph.D. student’. He didn’t seem as driven as one might expect, yet he had already earned a master’s and was sponsored by his country to study in the U.S.

Our small group in the library had a mix of personalities, and I was the youngest and the first to graduate — a necessity rather than a choice, as my financial situation didn’t allow for another semester. With two internships under my belt and a job waiting for me, I moved on, losing touch with Abdul and the others.