The pursuit of international education will change the course of your life – Period! The metamorphosis from the narrow lens of your comfort zone to the big, broad global world stage is a phenomenal experience to go through.This very personal and unique experience will bring about lasting changes in you – be it intellectual, social or emotional – and you would have reshaped yourself into a new, better you.If you wish to harness your curiosity, if you want to understand how international college life and experiences that transcend beyond just academics could bring lifelong learning for you – then this is the book for you.This is a “why to…” and a “what to…” book. This is not a “how to…” book, because no book can teach you execution. You are your own strategist and your “how to…” will be unique to you too.Regardless of the motivation, many people consider pursuing an international education; very few convert that into action; hardly any end up sharing their experiences to help another generation make considered choices. The author invites you to read his memoir and explore if you can take away any learnings from the choices he made or missed. Either way, you will be the beneficiary. Not only could you consider making the ‘good’ choices that he made, you would also have the advantage of avoiding any ‘not so good’ choices too. In the process, you would be in a better position after reading the book, than you were before you picked it up.As they say, this comes directly from the horses’ mouth. The author has lived through each and every experience shared herein. And this alone would help you figure out ‘the what’ and ‘the why’ of the choices you could make.The Year That Was is an authentic memoir of the author’s adventures, survival, and learnings from the pursuit of international education. It is a funny, engaging and a seamless narrative of first hand experiences through conversations between a doting dad and his mischievous and curious young daughter.What is on offer here is not personal catharsis, but perspectives. The book is a vehicle for something more significant than the history of the people and events it describes. Its self-deprecating narrative style breaks up seemingly-complicated learning areas into very simple life lessons.