People often say it only takes one night for luck to change around, for life to take a fateful turn to open streams to set it all in motion. I had been searching for that night till the night occurred. Nights for me have always been tricky, the moment I hit my head on the pillow, begins the train of thoughts circling down to every station it possibly can until I jump out of bed and feed the monster something of its desire. So, that night, I was embarking on another daring adventure of scouring my phone to decide what to eat to calm the devil down.
Suddenly, a notification popped up, and all I could focus on was IMFSE written in all caps.
I remember when I first decided to prepare for a master’s programme. The thought of leaving my first job to further my skills in my craft was a daunting decision to take. I figured I could always learn on the go by using challenges at my job to upskill myself. The pay was a much nicer add-on as well. However, throughout this time, there was a strong sense of delving deep into the ideas and concepts of fire engineering. I wanted to truly understand the beautiful intricacies and nuances that go into the decision-making process of creating a safe place for humans, not merely the facade of things, one sees while walking past those buildings.
So, I began to explore the opportunities out in the world that would intertwine my love of engineering and travel. As fate would have it, I landed on IMFSE’s website. The thought that I could go on to study in top universities, exploring the culture and warmth of different countries, felt unreal. It was something of a jest, one says, after watching a movie stuffed with romances of travel and here it was, an opportunity for me to get to experience it all, that too with a full scholarship, must only be a dream!
With my decision to apply came a voyage of documentation. Sometimes, I think that despite all the globalization and technological advances, humans have made paperwork more complex. The chain of emails going back and forth just to obtain all the necessary documents has certainly honed my email writing skills. Perseverance was the key throughout this process, and I persisted. I must give credit to IMFSE and Ghent University; filling out the application was a breeze.
Then I got the email for the interview process and things became very real, very fast. I dug out the notes from my bachelor’s while basking in the rays of anxiety and self-doubt to brush up on my fundamental understandings and theories. I marked my calendar with the fateful day to keep the urgency ever-present and to remember to appear, sharp as a tack, on the interview day. On D-day, I prepared myself a hearty breakfast while checking up on the setup for a smooth process. During the interview, I had an enjoyable conversation with Prof. Eulalia Planas on the facets of fire, my undergraduate milestones, and the wisdom of living away from home. She put me at ease instantly with a smile and a pleasantly polite attitude. Once I completed the process, began the treacherous waiting. I pushed myself to get busy with the tasks and responsibilities at hand, to not overthink on nights and to be happy that, come what may, it was a journey worth undertaking.
And on one of those nights, came the mail of selection. I mustered up the courage and opened it to find that I had received the full Erasmus+ scholarship to attend IMFSE in the batch of 2023-2025. I instantly did what anyone would do, I checked my email on all the devices it was logged and inspected it for all its worth until my brain aligned with my heart to believe it was all legitimate. I called up my family with soaring happiness to tell them of the news, woke up my flat mates and celebrated with pizzas all night.
When the adrenaline of selection settled down, came a fear of the unknown. The process of visa and housing to live at a place I have seen till now only on screens. Once again, I’m writing this at night, reminiscing on it all and spending time with my loved ones. While I’m still having battles with fear and overthinking but, if anything, I have learned this year that more often than not, the fateful nights always have the backing of countless days filled with determination and discipline to have them in the first place.
Now since I’m here, I look forward to meet the different humans of Fire Safety Engineering to collect ideas, and discussions and share the memories and fears for my most important design, LIFE.
Thank you, Sameed
IMFSE 