Have the courage to dream big and pursue it: Tanya Gupta
St. Vincent Pallotti College of Engineeringg And Technology, Nagpur University
“First Deserve then Desire” is the most important principle of my life.
My story is all about a person who comes from a middle-class background and still has the courage to dream big and pursue it.
And my big dream is to study in the United States, travel the world, become an entrepreneur and of course, make my parents proud.
Until my 8th grade, I managed to get good marks, however, Maths remained the constant phobia for me. As it was my father’s favourite subject, he used to feel bad when I would score low in Maths. Seeing his discontent, I took it as a challenge and the moment I started studying Maths with full fervour, it became my favourite subject. I had never experienced the beauty of Maths before in my life. Soon, this passion became the foundation of the first big decision of my life when I chose PCM as a course in my 11th grade.
At that point in life, when everyone was preparing for JEE, my aim was different. I never found the need to attend any coaching classes until my 12th grade and managed to complete my 12th grade with 89%. I got admission in a reputed college and chose Computer Engineering to take the first step towards my dream.
The 4 years of college were the most engaging days of my life. To make the most of my college life, I tried to grab every single opportunity that came my way.
During my first year, I devoted my leisure time to Make a Difference (NGO) by being an Ed-Support Volunteer and teaching Maths and English to the kids. For me, it was one of the most memorable experiences I have ever had. In fact, after spending time with those kids, I am so grateful to God for giving me a life where I have my parents, family and enough resources to fulfil all my requirements.
As I was aware of the fact that internships are very important for applying all that you have studied, I did an internship at the end of my first year where I learnt about working on all the major platforms such as Netbeans, Android Studio, Dreamweaver, etc.
Later, I did another internship to learn Oracle 11g database and got a thorough knowledge about the management of databases as well.
Also, to follow my love for writing, I even started content writing for many different companies.
While doing these multiple activities at the same time, I made sure that my academic results do not get hampered and thus, I devoted equal time to that as well. It was a very busy schedule for me to manage both college and then all of this.
However, as it is said, where there is a will, there’s a way!!
As I wanted to pursue higher studies from abroad, I took GRE and IELTS exams in my third year of engineering. As I was managing college and a project at the same time, I was not able to get enough time for preparation of GRE, and thus, landed on a score of 304 which was obviously bad.
I feel if I would have done it with full dedication with no other task at that time, I would have scored better.
While I was in serious confusion about selecting the university, a counsellor from Shiksha.com was of great help. She guided me really well and helped in choossing the perfect university.
I always loved to manage people and do several tasks at the same time, and MS in IT Leadership from Clark University was the perfect course for me. It helped me to remain connected with my field along with learning managerial skills. I think anyone who takes up Computer Engineering but is not interesting in being a hardcore coder can go for the same.
The decision should be made on the base of the area of interest so that one may not feel guilty about their decision.
During my last year of Computer Engineering, I went through the placement process to know about my growth in these 4 years. Because I was good at Maths and English, aptitude was never a problem for me. Coding never attracted me, however, if you have knowledge of C and Java languages, the technical round can be easily cracked. And at last, I was happy for getting a placement in more than one company.
As of now, after getting done with all the exams, finalising the university, completion of the visa process and being a university rank holder in the overall degree, I am feeling content, a feeling which has come to me after 4 years of hard taking me closer to my dreams.
About the Author:
My name is Tanya Gupta. I have completed my graduation in Computer Engineering from St. Vincent Pallotti College of Engineering And Technology Nagpur University. I love playing chess, and I have been a university-level chess player. My other hobbies include reading books, listening to music, writing poems and dancing.
