Don’t choose a career or course under pressure: Dhairya Mehta

I am the person who once though that high cut-off was the parameter that decides the rest of the life, but once I took admission, I realized such things were secondary.

Until the time I completed my Class 12th, I did not find myself in a position to decide my career path and there were many reasons for this, For e.g.- I was not exposed to many things necessary for deciding a career or course of study. I needed to explore more and more in order to come to any conclusion because a career, according to me, is something that you would love to pursue throughout your life. Like many students, I was limited to a few options between my school-college shift period till I discovered how big this world is and how much there is to learn in this 7 billion populated and 510 million km² spread big world. In 11th-12^th standard, my favourite subject was Maths and it directed me a bit towards engineering. Also, during my 11th-12^th, “JEE” was the most frequent word that I used to hear. Therefore, I tried to eliminate the options and I was left with engineering. I did not prepare for JEE at any point, I always studied for the boards and more specifically, I studied Maths more than any other subject which helped me clear my JEE Mains too. I was more than happy after the JEE results. However, after that, started a whole mess when it came to choosing and deciding a college. There are many parameters based on which we have to decide the college like the location (the most important - takes a lot of time and discussion), college’s ranking, brand value, outcomes after graduation and many more things are taken into consideration. If the college is far away, the question arises-“Is the college good enough to travel so far?” and if the fees is high, the question is - “Is it worth paying so much fees?” (This was not the part in my case). I took admission in three colleges and by upgrading and roaming from one state to another, I finally took admission in IIIT Bhubaneshwar. All the hard work and exhaustion paid off when I was admitted there in the very last round i.e., the closing round. Now, when I look back, I cherish those moments because they taught me real-life lessons and to some extent, how to tackle the real-life problems. So ultimately, whatever happens, happens for the good.

I now want to conclude by adding that Class 12th class is a very early stage to decide about the career. Either you give the student many opportunities to expose himself/herself to as many things as possible or wait until they discover their interest on their own. I also want to add that no one should be forced to choose any career path, the course of study or anything in life.

Admission journey and tips:

My college accepts JEE Mains’ score for the admissions. Hence, I applied for it as I did for many other colleges. I initially thought that the college was out of my league. It demanded higher cut-offs than I got, though I managed to qualify JEE Mains, but still. Hence, I stopped thinking about this college and started looking for other options and other good colleges. I still remember the dates and the chronological order of my admissions goes like this:

• 27th July 2017 – I got admission in Sri Shankaracharya, Bhilai based on CGPET (I did not want to study there though it was one of the good colleges in the state).
• 29th July 2017 – I got admission in YCCE, Nagpur based on MH-CET counseling (I canceled my admission from Sri Shankaracharya because YCCE was better. Hence, I left for Nagpur). I started studying in YCCE. Frankly, I did not like the place or the city, maybe because of the situation. Nothing was on track. The festival of Rakshabandhan was arriving. Hence, I headed to Raipur for the celebration.
• 8th August 2017 – I got admitted in BIT, Durg in the last round of CGPET counseling (Best private college in Chhattisgarh, better than YCCE and also, I wanted to leave Nagpur). I withdrew my admission from YCCE.

My college life was going smoothly. I travelled every day to attend college and I was happy, finally! I had just got around to the idea that this was the place where my 4 years are likely to be spent and guess what? 10 days after admission, I received a message regarding the counseling of last round in IIIT Bhubaneshwar. I participated and was allotted a seat.

• 18th August 2017 – I finally took admission in IIIT Bhubaneshwar which I had never thought of. I was more than happy. This was the best college amongst the colleges that I applied for.

20 days, 4 cities, 3 states, 4 colleges is how I can describe my admission.

Exams I appeared for: JEE Mains, JEE Advanced, BITSAT, SRMJEE, VITEEE, CGPET

Colleges I applied for: JoSAA (Counseling for NITs, IITs, IIITs), IIIT Naya Raipur, IIIT Bhubaneswar, MH-CET (Maharashtra) colleges, CGPET Colleges (Chhattisgarh).

Learnings And Insights

I follow a typical routine during the college days:

• 8:30 am: Wake-up, get ready and breakfast in the mess.
• 9:15 am – 12:15 pm: Some boring and some interesting lectures
• 12:15 am – 1:15 pm:  Lunch in the mess
• 1:15 pm – 4:15 pm: Practical classes
• Day-off and some snacks in the college café.
• Play cricket or sometimes go for a walk with friends.
• By 6:15 pm I come to my room, take some rest and chit-chat with the roommates and floormates.
• Go for dinner by 8:00 pm and after walking for a short period, I finally come to the room by 9:00 pm.
• I study for some time and use social media, do some pending work, sometimes watch series or any debate on Youtube.

That’s all for the day. This is a typical day we have. Saturdays and Sundays are off.

Despite this routine life, there are a lot other interesting and amazing things happening in the college. I try my best not to miss any of the events.

And then, there are college fests in which I take part very actively. I took part in the fashion show. I was the volunteer in the literature fest also and I co-organized an event in the annual cultural fest. I like to organize events in the college. I was also the college representative and Contingent leader in Asia’s largest cultural fest, IIT Bombay’s Mood Indigo. These are the things I like to get involved in. So, there are lots and lots of interesting things you can be a part of when you come to a college, besides studies.

Now talking about studies, I like to attend the class of only one subject i.e., Business Communication. This is the only subject in which I sit in a lecture whole-heartedly. I try not to miss any of the classes, either theory or lab, I try to attend all of them and I have 92% attendance in that one subject only.

I am currently a member of the college’s student council and I would like to become the secretary in the 3rd year of any club and head the annual fest. I want to work as a leader.

The college has developed me as a better person than I was a year ago. I learned to speak publicly in the college, I learned to stay updated. Routine studies of college are fine, everyone does that, but what you do except that matters a lot and changes a lot of things like your mindset, your overall behavior, personality and many other things.

I would now like to conclude by saying that don’t stress too much about the admissions. Just keep trying and try your level best. Try for as many options as you can and never lose hope. Whatever happens, happens for good.

About The Author:

My name is Dhairya Mehta and I am a student at the International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Bhubaneswar. I am also a Fashion Influencer at Wooplr and a learner, learning from the past experiences and mistakes. I like to represent my college on different platforms; I did so at Mood Indigo, IIT Bombay, doing at Shiksha community and looking forward to doing it at Internshala. I recently developed my interest in digital marketing and is keen to know how digital medium works in the Internet space. I actively participate in my college fest, volunteer for events, write for an initiative called “Humans of IIIT” by IIIT Bhubaneswar. I also play cricket whenever I get the time. I have played the game at the state-level. I also love to try new things.