Shireen Nagdiv was working as a software engineer in India when she applied for a master’s degree in the United States. She told Business Insider that taking out a $59,000 loan to study was a big risk. Nagdiv immigrated to the United States in 2018 and took a job at Salesforce. Two years later in Silicon Valley.
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This told essay is based on a transcript of a conversation I had with Shireen Nagdiv, a 29-year-old from Kalyan, India, about her experience immigrating to the United States and working at Salesforce. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
I grew up in a very small town in India called Kalyan near Mumbai. I’ve been interested in computers since I was a child, and I knew I wanted to pursue a career in computer science since I was in 8th grade.
I completed my Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology, India from 2012 to 2016. In the final year of my course, I received a job offer as a software engineer from a multinational company in India.
I am the first woman in my family to graduate from college and work for a large company.
I applied for a master’s degree in the United States
I moved in with some roommates from work. They all took the Exit Record Examination, which helps them get into U.S. business schools.
I had never heard of it. No one close to me pursued a career outside of their hometown, let alone America.
At 23 years old, I knew I wanted to spend my entire career in the technology industry. And I thought it was a good time to study in the US for a few years. I wanted to deepen my understanding of computer science and work on more complex projects. I decided to do a test and see what would happen. After working 9-5 every day, I would study for exams.
I took the exams and did reasonably well, so in 2017 I applied for some master’s degrees in computer science in the US. I had a rough idea of how much it would cost, but I didn’t know how I was going to pay for it. I have enrolled in a master’s program in computer science at Stony Brook University in New York starting in 2018.
took a big risk and borrowed money
Although I was able to cover exam fees and university entrance fees through my job, I had no idea how I would finance my master’s degree in the United States.
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The tuition fee was $59,000. That’s a lot of money, but my family didn’t have it.
You will have to take on large amounts of debt. One option was to take out a loan using my parents’ home as collateral. If I don’t pay, the bank could take the property as collateral. My dad and I talked about this, but we didn’t want our home to be the only asset on the loan.
To cover the fees, I decided to take out an unsecured loan with a high interest rate.
Relatives asked me why I would take on large amounts of debt for my education instead of buying a house, starting my own company, and making investments in India. My father, who paid for my bachelor’s degree, was worried, but my mother encouraged me to have faith.
I wondered if it was worth it, but I wanted to invest in myself. I thought, “If I don’t take this risk now, I’ll regret it for the rest of my life.”
To counteract my doubts, I developed a calculated risk framework. What is the worst that can happen and how can I resolve it?
The worst-case scenario was that he couldn’t find a job in the U.S. and it would take even longer to repay the loan, including interest. My solution was to return to India where I knew I could find work. It may take 10 years to pay off your debt, but at least you won’t regret it.
I focused on what I could control.
I had never been to America before, and the debt was more scary than moving to a new country. Stony Brook is in New York. I was imagining a skyscraper like in the movies, but the university was actually located on Long Island. My room was small. At first I wondered why I came, but I made friends and got used to this city.
Two weeks after starting, my friend and I decided we wanted to try a salsa class. That day, I heard from my roommate that someone who was taking this course had already been awarded an internship at Microsoft. I hadn’t even started preparing to apply for internships yet. I told myself to quit salsa and just focus on applying for tech jobs and preparing for interviews.
Getting an internship could help my resume and potentially turn into a full-time offer. I worked day and night at the university and gave my 100%. It was quite stressful to work so hard on my application along with my courses and assignments. All the computer science students worked and lived on the same campus, which made it competitive but also motivating.
I often felt homesick and called my parents every day. I liked hearing just the basics, what they had for lunch and dinner.
I got a job at Salesforce
I interned at Salesforce in the summer of 2019 during my master’s degree. It was in Washington state. I decided to work on a certain project. I found it to be a great place for engineering and innovation, and I fell in love with the culture. This helped me realize that I wanted to work on the backend side of large systems.
My manager was a great mentor and once the project was completed, I was offered a full-time role on the technical team that matched my interests. It was based in the Bay Area.
I was so relieved and happy that all my hard work paid off. Not only was I able to pay off my debt, but I was also able to contribute to Salesforce’s great technology products.
I moved to Silicon Valley
I moved to the Bay Area in February 2020. I realized how much innovation is happening in the region and how many opportunities there are to build relationships with people in the industry. However, I became homesick as I could not go back to India during the pandemic.
I was able to pay off my debt in 2020.
Salesforce sponsored my visa and I’ve been here for four years. Although I am enjoying life in the US, I have no plans to return to India. We’ll find out in a few years.
I am so grateful to work alongside the talented engineers on my team every day. Improved problem-solving and communication skills in engineering.
Last year, I was able to take my parents to America for a vacation. It was my dream to show them all the beautiful places in California. I’ve grown a lot over the past few years, both as a software engineer and as a person. Starting from scratch in a new country is tough. I’m so glad I invested in myself.
For other students who don’t have a home background that knows how to figure all of this out, if I can achieve the American Dream, so can you.
If you’ve taken a significant career risk and want to share your story, email ehopkins@businessinsider.com.
