I was diagnosed with cancer of the thyroid in April 2014, a few months before I was to join Purdue University in the United States. My doctors told me that if I had to have cancer, this was the ‘best’ one of all the varieties. Rest assured that I’m now happy and healthy, and I only have very ordinary human ailments such as sinus headaches, acne, stubbed toes and the occasional Game of Thrones spoiler.

I spent a couple of months in and out of hospitals and I had more doctors than friends. They cut my throat, pilfered my thyroid, and in the process snipped a nerve to my shoulder and shocked some vocal cords. Worst of all, they had only one side of my head shaved before the neck surgery and didn’t let me even out the other side after the surgery (don’t ask why). So, for a few weeks I looked like Cruella from 101 Dalmatians when people came to visit. A few days after the surgery, I downed 150 millicurie of radioactive iodine, spent two days in quarantine where I binge-watched Death Note behind lead walls, and then underwent various tests. Finally, in June 2014, the doctors informed us the cancer was gone.

Then there came the question of Purdue. I said (or more accurately, croaked) that I still really wanted to study in the U.S. despite the possibility of a relapse, my frailty and my voice — and my parents probably wondered if I had brain cancer as well! We debated and argued a lot, but in the end my awesome, awesome parents set aside the obvious fears they had and allowed me to enroll at Purdue.

Since I don’t have my thyroid gland, I have to take supplements every day, which quickly became a morning habit in my first semester at Purdue. Thanks to that, I soon cultivated the convenient superpower of swallowing tablets without water. My inaudible voice cost me participation points in some classes, but on the brighter side, for about six months, I could perform one of the gruffest Batman impersonations in the Midwest.

Things sailed smoothly after my second semester. With voice therapy exercises, Batman gradually became an articulate South Indian Bruce Wayne. I had blood tests every three months (and will continue to) but the news has always been good. I had to follow month-long iodine-free diets (did you know even chocolates contain iodised salt?) followed by radioactive-iodine tests every summer in Chennai. These tested for any recurring cancer, and these have always turned out negative as well.

Thanks to the consistent good news, tackling college has been, well, ez pz (easy). It was hard initially, but once I got past those initial semesters and received positive news, there was no reason to quit. Giving up after that would be like Mario rage-quitting after beating Bowser.

The real heroes of this story were my parents. The way they have supported, tolerated and motivated me through all my ups and downs is unreal.

My dad has himself taken me to every single doctor’s appointment, X-ray, ultrasound, blood test, iodine scan and everything else in Chennai, over the past five years. He has maintained a chronological record of the details and results of every single one of these events so systemically (almost psychotically) that it puts the various hospitals’ medical records departments to shame. During the month of my iodine-free diet each year, I couldn’t eat almost any kind of processed food, since they all invariably contained iodised salt. Through those months, my mom learned how to make homemade cheese, bread, ketchup and various other things from scratch (using non-iodised salt) that her fussy son couldn’t live without.

They’ve done a lot. They’ve been strong, patient, trusting and just all-round awesome. They made my undergrad ez pz.

Recently I graduated from Purdue. I’ll try to avoid the myriad cliches about graduating (obviously Purdue was like a second home and obviously I’ll miss my friends, and obviously I’m glad to be done), so I’ll paraphrase Purdue’s president Mitch Daniels instead: “As every mechanical engineer knows, without friction, there is no traction.”

I’m glad things happened the way they did (thyroid cancer, losing my voice, becoming Batman, everything!) because these hurdles are what have given me the fortitude and confidence to keep going.

Onward to CMU (Carnegie Mellon University)!

Arul schooled in Sishya and later Vidya Mandir, both in Chennai, before joining Purdue for his bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering. He is now going to Carnegie Mellon to do his Master’s. Email: det.abu@gmail.com