Mystory@Makarand Gomashe: How I chose my course and career path

Mystory@Makarand Gomashe

I was always one of the top scorers in my school and a teachers’ favourite. My assignments were submitted before deadline that too perfect enough to score 100% marks. My parents are doctors and their work always inspired me. The social connect a doctor has, the social respect a doctor gets, the great work of serving a society a doctor does, and of course the earnings a doctor makes were enough to reason out why being a doctor could be one of the best career options to pursue. But over time I realised there was an important thing that I missed to think upon, ‘my interest’.

Does the work of a doctor or any other profession actually fascinate me to bring in me the real passion to achieve milestones and success? That’s where I had to rub my eyes, wash my face and start exploring my own self, who am I? What do I like? Well things were around me, but I had to observe things carefully.

Soon I noticed when people shared a given problem (even of real life that my family and friends shared) I could actually map down possible permutations of solutions, and some were really out of the box. This pleased me. My strong analytical skills reflected pretty well when I attempted to solve puzzles and mathematical problems. I continued to explore my aptitude for good time to also identify my weaknesses to avoid any wrong career selection. It took time but I realised my memory to learn things is good but it’s not something fascinating for me. That’s where I thought being a doctor is good for me, but might not be the best.

Finally with time and my analysis, I went with my interests to be a Computer Scientist and started preparing for JEE to get into IIT. I dropped Biology and took PCM in class XI-XII.

Going with my interest actually improved my scores and kept me interested in my chosen course of studiesthroughout. I cracked JEE 2013 and got admitted in IIT Jodhpur for BTech in Computer Science and Engineering (CSE).

How I cracked college admission

Once, it was clear to me what I had to pursue, I soon met some seniors who could provide me useful insights on choices ahead like the junior college for XI-XII, tuitions to join, books to refer etc. On suggestions, I joined Bansal Classes, Kota and took admission in a college nearby my house where I used to go to complete assignments and exams. The people at college were cooperative.

The faculty at Bansal Classes were at par with my expectations and they actually justified the brand name that Kota was known for in the whole nation. I used to complete all my assignments (DPPs and Sheets) on time and hardly missed any classes. The practice gave me good hands-on practice I solving problems.

Only during 12th Board examination, the practice got sidelined and I had to spend time remembering lengthy answers. Then the JEE exam came and I cleared JEE Mains with a great score such that admission into any NIT and any branch was almost confirmed. When I had one month for JEE Advanced, I solved mock tests and reference material available on online platforms like Shiksha and kept my focus on my strong concepts. But JEE Advanced didn’t go as per my expectations and I scored a little low. Hence, it was now critical for me to carefully enter choice of colleges in the counselling form. Again, online platforms like Shiksha proved to be of great help in understanding colleges and their study programs. 

After the counselling, I luckily made it to Computer Science and Engineering program at IIT Jodhpur. I also appeared for BITSAT and MHT-CET for a backup for worse situation but my hardwork paid off as I had great scores in JEE Mains and decent enough in JEE Advanced. Hence, I removed my focus from other exams and went into celebrating success and preparing for entering a new phase of life.

What I gained from my college experience

I became a part of IIT Jodhpur from the day my admission got confirmed. I started getting calls from Student Guides of Counselling Service, IIT Jodhpur who are actually the second year students. They explained me all the details of admission process and things I should get for my first year of stay. This comforted me a lot.

From the first year itself we were introduced to all different societies and their clubs for us to explore and choose where are interests lie. I became a part of Programming club in the Technical Society, Frame-X (video editing club) in the Arts Society, and Dance Club in the Cultural Society. These kept me busy over my weekends too but gave me quality time and new learning opportunities. During my first year, I met a lot of new people. I knew almost whole of my batch.

While in second year, due to great connect with people I won the elections for Students’ Representative to work and coordinate student and administrative roles. I tried solving several issues and problems. I also initiated the work of having certain changes in curriculum to enhance students learning. I helped organise several events for the batch and IIT Jodhpur. I had a great tenure and everybody still shows respect for my work. During my second year, I also became a part of counselling service as a Student Guide to mentor new IITians (first years) who had just joined the institute. I helped seniors to organise inter-college fests of IITJ: Ignus and Varchas.

Third year brought in bigger responsibilities for me. I became Marketing Head of Ignus. I managed sponsorships and dealt with negotiation of offers and handling the demands. This year also had some advanced core Computer Science courses that required high focus. Also we had to work on innovative projects (BTech Project) which brought in academic load with it. I also had to prepare for interviews for internships for the coming summer.

My final year is going on. Less academic pressure but bigger projects. Bigger worry is around campus placements. There is this tense situation regarding which companies would be visiting and when will we get placed. I had started preparation for interviews from my third year, hence it was little less difficult for me. Final touch-ups were given by online blogs and articles related to interviews. I got placed in the first week of the placement season and was too happy with my success.

At times it brings tears that soon a splendid phase of my life is going to end, but at times all these memories make me happy and proud that I could be part of this journey at IIT Jodhpur and I will be taking away with me all my learnings, experiences and stories.

This is just a short summary expressed in about 1000 words of the big 4 years that I have spent here and all them had a special memory that I would be carrying. I made special friends for lifetime, big contacts in the corporate world, learnt to fight real life problems and a lot many things that any book cannot teach.

My dream is to revolutionalise business and management in India by being a role model corporate leader and incorporating several new techniques to lead and manage companies and employees. Hence, I would be starting off by gathering some work experience for a few years and then take up MBA course from another great institute and make myself ready to achieve my dream.

About the Author:

I am a final year BTech (Computer Science and Engineering) student at IIT Jodhpur. My hometown is Nagpur, Maharashtra. My hobbies include exploring new things, socializing, puzzle solving etc. I like optimizing techniques (why to put extra efforts or cost when a simple way is there). I also like to lead and guide whenever I feel my knowledge and experience can make things better for others. Also, I want to work for a better India and be part and contributor in making India the world’s best country.