A positive mindset leads to success: Akkahshh Agarwaal

As I come from a family of doctors, I was urged to take up science after my 10^th standard board exams. But, having no interest in the field of biology, I decided to become an engineer for good. So, I took up Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Computer Science as my subjects in Class XI-XII. Along the course, I realized that science isn’t my cup of tea but the one subject I liked to the core of my heart was Computer Science. It was not only my hobby, but my passion as well. I exceled at it. I could grasp the concepts more easily than others. I had decided that I would definitely take up Computer Science as my major in college. But to my dismay, there were no seats available. I couldn’t get a seat in CS because I had not studied Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics and was not able to score in the entrance exams. I only took up Electrical Engineering in MIT-WPU because I was mesmerized by the college. I liked the college so much. I made up mind and decided to take up any branch just to be a part of this college and I hope I won’t regret my decision. 

Going to tuitions for securing a good rank in entrance exams, has become a tradition nowadays. But I did not believe in that tradition and was not a part of it. I don’t like the idea of sitting down in a classroom and listen to a lecture for hours and hours and that too even on Sunday. I was comfortable studying at home and that is what I did. After my Class 12^th boards examination, I gave a lot of entrance exams for a seat into one of the premier engineering colleges across the nation. The exams I gave were JEE-Mains (All India), BITSAT (Birla Institute of Technology), VITEEE (Vellore Institute of Technology Engineering Entrance Exam), MU-OET and as a resident of the state of Maharashtra, I also attempted the CET of Maharashtra (MHCET). As I could not secure a good rank in any of the exams I attempted, I was extremely tensed about my future. MIT, Pune is one of the reputed colleges in Pune and as it had just turned into a deemed university, I was kind of curious about it’s curriculum and college lifestyle. I filled an application form online on the college’s website and got a rank given by the university according to my marks in JEE and CET a few days later. On the day of counselling which was in July, I had an option to select the branch of my choice if it had any seat left. Impressed by the college’s industry-approach curriculum and campus, I immediately took up a seat in the college in spite of the high fees and option of a few other colleges I got with my CET marks. 

College life

I really like the college I am currently studying in. In spite of being 15 kms away from my residence, I attend college every day. Also, because we have a strict policy about 90% attendance. As my first year of college is just getting over, I am having mixed emotions. Happy that I don’t have to study some of the subjects that I hated like Mathematics and Mechanics to name a few. Some of the subjects that I liked to study were Engineering Graphics and Computer Science. According to me, most of the things taught in the curriculum are out-of-date and extremely unnecessary. Sometimes, I would just bunk the class and go learn something interesting on my own. Not too long ago, I had to design and host a website for the social service club I am a part of in college, which brought me face-to-face with HTML, CSS, JavaScript and Bootstrap. Web development and programming really fancies me. I just like to learn things on my own either by seeing a tutorial on YouTube or pursuing a course online on websites like Udemy, etc. I would really like to work in field related to Computer Science.

Apart from the academics, I am an integral part of the social service club, CLUB FELIX, of our college, MIT-WPU. In the vacation, I plan to learn swimming so that I can be a part of the official rowing team of our college and get an opportunity to excel in sports as well. I am a fitness freak, I hit the gym regularly in spite of my busy schedule. I like to be aware of the new exercises and try to be able to do them and increase my strength and obviously build a good personality.

Enrolling into engineering at MIT-WPU has really made me more aware about the tiny details and designs we miss to notice in our every day life. It has definitely made me more curious about how things work and how they are made. Being an aspiring website developer, now I look keenly at the different websites and the designs of the posters and pamphlets I get daily in the newspaper. I like to be aware of the current affairs in and around the world, so I watch videos on YouTube about them.

I think the most important aspect of success, is MINDSET. Others are just byproducts of it. Once the mindset has been established, literally no one can stop you from being successful. With this in mind, I hope that the things I do in these four years will definitely pay off help me to achieve success later in life. 

About the Author:

My name is Akkahshh Agarwaal and I belong to the state of Maharashtra, Pune. I am currently pursuing my BTech from Maharashtra Institute of Technology, World Peace University. As far as my family background is concerned, my parents are doctors and my elder brother is a Mechanical Engineer. I am a fan of Computer Science. I like programming, web development, bodybuilding. I love hitting the gym regularly. Not a fan of college lectures but believe in self-learning.