Mystory@ Harpreet Singh: How I chose my course and college

Mystory@ Harpreet Singh

I always was more inclined towards Maths, Physics and Chemistry. I could understand it better than History, Geography or Language subjects. Somehow studying History or Geography became my remedy for sleeplessness. Whenever I couldn't sleep I used to study History, and within 5 mins, my eyes would start drooping and that night I would sleep like a baby. And this was not a one-time thing – it worked every single time. I still don't know why it happened. It’s not that I am dumb; I am smarter than average and love stories and storytelling too, but probably it is the fault of the History books writers that they couldn't write well about such great and historic events and people.

My scores in 10th dipped because of Social Science, else even I could have been amongst the students who scored 90%. Thus it was obvious that I would choose Science and Maths in 11th and 12th. I scored 90% in 12th and could get into Hindu College because of my scores in Chemistry, Maths & Physics. I chose BSc in Electronics – sounded cooler than BSc in Physics or Chemistry. Also, I had never studied Electronics before and was curious about the subject – more about the practical part of it. And Hindu being such a premiere institution, I would have taken any course just to be a part of it.

How I cracked college admission

90% average is considered good enough to get you into any premiere institute, so I could manage admission in Hindu. I was good in studies because of 2 reasons. First was that my friends were all extremely good students and I had to keep up with them in terms of scores, and secondly I wanted to be good at everything I did. I played sports, participated in music, was the Captain of the basketball team and sports Captain of the school, and still managed to score enough to get admission in Hindu. Pretty cool right. That's what I thought too, but it wasn't easy. I had to study harder than my friends because I participated actively in sports and thus had to bunk classes for most of the year. We all went to the same coaching class because to be honest, some of our teachers in school could not teach that efficiently. Many of my concepts in Physics Maths and Chemistry were clear because of my coaching Sir. His name is Dinesh. Under his guidance, my friends and I all scored between 90-95%.

Now let’s come to the second part. Score 90% in Boards takes hard work patience discipline and chilling out sessions in between. Taking too much pressure will only make things worse. Keep your goal as 95%, I’m sure you will be able to manage around 85% & above.

Now once you are in college you should never just focus on studies or assignments. Your focus should be on learning about life and evolving as a person. Develop your personality by joining societies and meet people with different culture and ideologies (political and religious). Live your college life to the fullest because this phase gets over sooner than you think.

What I gained from my college experience

College life was amazing. It was filled with friends, parties, fights, society events, fests, bunks, hostel life, elections, girlfriend, etc. The mistakes I made were more or less similar to what most young men make at that age. Like not listening to the advice of my parents. 

The mistakes and the wrong decisions we make have their consequences. We just need to be strong enough to face them all with dignity. That's when I discovered that patience is an extremely important quality that can help you withstand anything. I chose the wrong career during my start because I saw the salary and thought about the happiness of my parents. I should have tried to become a musician from day 1 instead of thinking about job security. If we do not choose the right career path for ourselves, sooner or later, we get to realise that we are at the wrong place. We can’t cheat our own heart. I would not want anyone else to make the same mistake and regret later. If you have a dream, start working towards it now. Do not delay even by a day. Time & tide wait for none.

About the Author:

I belong to the holy city of Varanasi, also known as the city of Ganges. I am a man of faith. I find solace in music, poetry and singing. I think love, knowledge and peace of mind are the greatest treasures that mankind can acquire.