Quitting

I believe it takes a significant amount of courage, madness and/or desperation to go through a phd program in the US. In my point of view, it takes a lot more courage to realize that this is not what you were looking for, and "call it a day".
Kritika got to UC San Diego at the same time as me (Sep/2008). IIT student, a bright young kid.
After a few months of "thinking it through", she decided to quit. It's a 4 year investment of her life down the drain. Well ... maybe not completely, aside from the experience, she got away with a master's degree. As me, she was about to take the senate exam, and become a phd candidate. After telling Nuno (our advisor), what was going through her mind, he tried to talk her out of it, and did not allow her to take the exam. He argued that he could not make five faculty loose their time in a student's exam, if she was thinking about leaving the University.

Me and Kritika crossing the Golden Gate, CVPR 2010.

Why was it important for her to take this exam? Because after this, she would be one step away from graduation... she could even take a "leave of absence" while thinking about what to do. I have the utmost respect for such a courageous decision that has crossed my mind so many times in these last 4 years. Respect.

Farewell my friend, and Godspeed!