Yash Misra, Graduate Student, MS in Chemical Engineering
Hi, I'm Yash. Welcome to my #ISSOstories.
Which Columbia program/department are you in?
I'm a graduate student in Engineering. I’m a first year student. This is my first semester and I've been here for less than two months.
I’m a first year student. This is my first semester and I think I've been here for less than two months. The past research that I have done has been on waste of fuels and biofuels in general – hydrogen. I've worked in the renewable - renewable energy space and sustainability. I had the fortunate experience to work with Boeing in plating and paint processes for aircraft, commercial airliners. Right now I'm trying to get into the climate modeling space where I try and work with extreme weather events that happen: hurricanes, floods, and try to predict those.
Moving abroad is not easy. It seems very fancy on Instagram where people are posting, “Oh, I found this car, I found this job, I'm wearing this clothes,” whatever it might be, right? But then when you are here, when you experience it in person, it's a completely different environment and there is a lot of struggle involved. But I think that that builds more resilience and going forward that gives you more experience.
Developing a sense of community for yourself is the best way to go. Communicating with people. I think, I- I struggle in between, but with- with my friends and… I strive to do better, but I think that's the only way to go about it. So, communication is the key. Truly is the key.
One thing that, in the short two months that I have been here, I have been intentional about is meeting a lot of people, different people. I have- I've spoken to bus drivers, I've spoken to baristas, I've spoken to the security personnel at the gate on 116 and Broadway. A lot of these people you talk to, you will think, “Oh, they come from a different background and they will have a different story,” but then all of them have the similar experiences that you had, and there is always something to relate to. And some people would shy away from having a conversation because they might be private and that's- that's all good. I understand that if you don't want to, you don't have to. But I think speaking to these people just about how their day went, and you don't even have to share about your information. Just keep asking. Be curious about people. I think that really helps build such strong connections with people.
One of my friends pushed me to go horse riding, so I did horse riding recently in the Bronx. That was really fun. And, in general, like, having long walks, walking at night, checking out Times Square, exploring the places. That has been the key.
Tell us about your past research or current projects at Columbia.
The past research that I have done has been on waste of fuels and biofuels in general. I've worked in the renewable energy space and sustainability and I've had the fortunate experience to work with Boeing in plating and paint processes for aircraft, commercial airliners. Right now I'm trying to get into the climate modeling space where I want to predict extreme weather events that happen such as hurricanes and floods.
What has been your experience moving to NYC?
Moving abroad is not easy. People on Instagram makes it seem very fancy by saying “Oh, I found this car, I found this job, I'm wearing this clothes,” whatever it might be. But then when you are here, when you experience it in person, it's a completely different environment and there is a lot of struggle involved. I think that that builds more resilience and going forward that gives you more experience.
Be curious about people. I think that really helps build such strong connections.
What is some advice you'd like to share with the Columbia international community?
Developing a sense of community for yourself is the best way to go. Communicate with people. It truly is the key.
In the short two months that I have been here, I have been intentional about meeting a lot of different people. I've spoken to bus drivers, baristas, and security personnel at the gate on 116th and Broadway. A lot of these people you talk to, you will think, “Oh, they come from a different background and they will have a different story,” but then all of them have the similar experiences that you had, and there is always something to relate to. Some people would shy away from having a conversation because they might be private and that's all good. But just keep asking. Be curious about people. I think that really helps build such strong connections.
What do you like to do outside of Columbia? Any hobbies? Interests?
One of my friends pushed me to go horse riding, so I tried it recently in the Bronx. It was really fun. In general, I like having long walks, walking at night, checking out Times Square, and exploring all the places. That has been the key.
Are you (or do you know) an international student, scholar, or alumni?
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