How does it feel to be a US graduate student?

Bismillah...

I was asked several times,

Why US?
Tak susah ke? (Isn't it hard?)
How does it feel to be a US PhD student?

I do expect these kind of questions. US is known to be one of the challenging places to get a PhD.

Here's why.

1. You are required to take graded technical courses, in my case, total of around 36 credit hours (around 12 courses). You have to make sure you do study like undergraduates - finish the homework, do your best in exams and get good grades. Definitely to maintain your CGPA above 3.
2. You need to pass a preliminary exam. The system is different across schools and departments. Once you pass the exam, then you are officially a PhD student. Now you can work with your research seriously.
3. Your professor might hold you longer than you should be to help him/her on the research. Well, it depends. But the normal length of PhD here is 5-6 years full time. 

Plus additional on myself

1. Having a toddler while doing PhD is a big challenge already. Times to study at home is like none. She will grab my attention while I'm on my laptop, reading papers, or even when I'm on the phone browsing things.
2. Living overseas limits you to find a baby sitter. A daycare here would cost about $500-$800 per month. That's the same as our monthly rent! So my husband sacrifice his daytime to take care of her and working remotely to Malaysia during nighttime.

While I am still struggling searching for the best topic for my research, I could not comment more until I get it on track and feel more peaceful later on inshaAllah. For now, I'm fully thankful to Allah for allowing me to survive the first year of my PhD journey, and keeping me alive and energetic for my second year. Ameen...

The little brother has recently graduated from his Bachelor degree. Congratulations, mabruk alaik ya akhi!