Mystory@Subrat Sahoo: How I chose my course and college

Mystory@Subrat Sahoo

I completed my schooling (XI & XII) from Government Junior College, which is situated at the steel city of Odisha i.e. Rourkela. For me it was quite an interesting journey. In State board there is no system to choose any stream while studying in class IX or X. In our society they used to think (I don’t know about now, that’s why I used a word “used to”) that after matriculation if you are taking Science then you must be called as a brilliant student, but it doesn’t matter that you don’t have any idea or knowledge about what Science is. But my case was different because at that time I had quite a good knowledge about Science as well as Math, still I had no interest to take up Science, I wanted to study diploma in Mechanical branch. But somehow my mind got diverted to take Commerce because I thought “I am good in Mathematics and Commerce is all about mathematics,” but you know my society which was not speaking a single word, but I was listening Science, Science, Science… Then I ended up taking Science.

How I cracked admission in my current college

It was a journey where you will be bound to think that “There is God, there is destiny, there is luck, and there is will power”. It could happen with others, still for me it was not a just an incident, it was a miracle.

I was searching for a well-established management college, and I found a college in Delhi as well. I thought that my father has that much money to get me admitted into that college (it was unfortunate, but for me it was a lesson.) My father never made me feel that he does not have enough money. I did not score well in the entrance exam, I did not score well even in my graduation. I was worried about that. Then I consulted many consultancies, then I got to know about a good college which is RIIM (Ramchandran International Institute of Management), Pune. The best part was that the course fees of this college was in my budget. (It’s another story how I got the fees to study further). I didn’t think about anything and I applied for this college. I am feeling that was the wisest decision I have ever made in my entire life.

How I cracked college admission

I have completed my graduation in 2014. Due to backlog, I got my graduation certificate in 2015. During that gap I was preparing for bank and other competitive exams. My parents told me that “It’s the time, if you want to study further then just do it, otherwise in future you may be busy and taking time from your busy schedule will be difficult.”  I wanted to do MBA. Like others, I also wanted to study in IIM and such  top MBA institution. So I started preparing for CAT and I went 400 km away from my home town to take coaching for CAT. It was the turning point of my life. I wasted so much money of my parents, but I didn’t do anything for getting a good score in CAT. I felt so depressed and thought of myself to be a loser.

After couple of months I got to know about RIIM, Pune and I applied for this college. After couple of days, one of the members of the administrative department of the college told me that I was shortlisted for the PI round and needed to appear for a telephonic interview after one day. A day after the interview was over, they sent me the offer letter for having qualified the PI round for admission. Then I collected all the information about this college, I felt good and I joined this college for doing MBA.

Fortunately or unfortunately I don’t know, but I gave only one entrance test, i.e. CAT.  I was preparing for CAT at T.I.M.E., it was also a nice institution. They tried their best.

I was trying out for so many well established colleges like IIM, Symbiosis, Flame University, JNU and many more. I was also trying a college in Delhi, but due to heavy course fees I was unable to study there.

How I spend time in college

I love to spend time at my college. I usually spend 10 to 12 hours per day. Usually college starts from 8 o’ clock in the morning and ends at 6 o’clock in the evening. It is my second home. Daily routine of my college is “first class starts from 8am to 10am or 8.30am to 10.30am or 9am to 11am, then we get a short break of 15 minutes, after one more class we get a lunch break of 1 hour. Then we attend 2 classes and we get back home.” All classes are of 2 hours. College has a good building with wi-fi facility. I often spend my time during break by surfing the Internet. All faculty and staff members are so helpful and interactive. They help us whenever we are in need. Most of all the students are very friendly and so interactive. We also share our own views with each other.

If you miss one class then you will feel regretful about it. All the classes are so interactive and very helpful. Academic classes are very good and there are extra classes as well like PDGA (Personality Development and Grooming), communication classes, group discussion classes, library day, quiz classes, English classes, interview classes and many more. I love to attend guest speakers’ classes. We get 4 to 5 guest speakers’ classes in a month. Topics are like Campus to corporate, Discipline and young leadership, Crack interview, Stock market and many more. In PDGA classes we get so many opportunities to express ourselves like leadership presentation, domain presentation, debate classes, two minutes sales competition and many more. In short, I love to attend all the classes.

When I came here, I got so many outbound trips. At that time all students got to know each other. These were lively and fun-filled trips. We played so many indoor as well as outdoor games. We visited so many industries like Coca Cola, BSE, Oxyrich and many more. I never miss my home in festivals, because I feel like I am at home. Here is no difference between any religion. All are treated the same way. I have taken part of in so many extra-curricular activities and I love all activities.

I would like to take my college at an international level. If I get a chance I will promote my college outside the country and will organise some events abroad, from where foreigners will also be attracted to take admission in my college. I would like to give so many helpful tips and lessons to people in the rural area by organising various events. If I get a chance then I would like to organise a blood donation camp, a job fair event and home remedies event. I also would like to reduce cost for very poor students for their well-being.

About the Author:

I am Subrat Sahoo, a native of steel city of Odisha, i.e. Rourkela. I am someone who can handle any situation. I believe that “Try to learn from others’ mistakes, if you will learn only from your own mistakes then the process will be very lengthy and time taking.”

I’m a Science graduate, pursuing MBA. My interests include making friends and helping people. My strengths are my convincing capability, adaptability, communication and listening ability.