Being in a leading b-school, all I could think of right now is my CAT journey and my determination to reach where I am today. Working in an IT company, fast life and my ambitions were all in sync when I decided to study for CAT,2017 and pursue my management dreams. It was perfect timing for me and I planned it all well. Having invested considerable amount of money on test series and materials, my determination was a level higher than average.
I was very sure that my consistent efforts towards CAT, 2-3 hours of study for 6 months and determination will help me crack it. I studied all through June to October. I was very confident and was waiting for D-DAY very eagerly to prove my capabilities. On 20
th November, just before days of my CAT exam I started feeling a bit feverish while working at my office. I ignored it and continued with my day’s work. That night, I got very high fever, over 103 degrees. I shunned the thought of anything else and considered it as some viral fever and took normal paracetamols. The high fever continued for the next two days. I started getting very anxious. On 22
nd I decided to visit a hospital. I was taken to emergency with high fever and extremely low blood. The doctors admitted me immediately. Doctors suspected dengue. So, it was. I was admitted for over 10 days with platelet count as low as 3000. I lost 10 kgs. Missed my CAT exam. All these 6 months of intense preparation went for a toss. I was extremely heart broken and was cursing the vagaries of life.
The most challenging part of all these was convincing myself to try giving CAT again the very next year. With all the anxieties, apprehensions and uncertainty, I started preparing for CAT again with only one thought of giving my best. I used to breakdown often but I didn’t let it affect my preparations.
I gave CAT next year, scored a decent percentile and here I am, siting in the hostel room of TAPMI, writing an article for INSIDEIIM. Life is full of challenges and uncertainty but within those you have to carve your own path and keep your hopes up.