There has been a lot of challenges and difficult times I have seen and faced during my teenage years. Growing up into adulthood, as I reflect on a few such instances, I realize how time makes us wiser and matured to deal with such problems. The challenge was when I had to make a choice between my career and love. Yes, that looks quite silly now but back then, it was a really tough tussle between the heart and mind. As a bright student with a decent academic record, I managed admission in one of the prestigious engineering institutes of West Bengal. My parents had expectations that I would do really well there and secure a good job before I graduate. But unfortunately, the things didn’t turn out in my favour a few months before placements. I was in a relationship in college days and it was one such incident which broke me down. A verbose fight over phone, plenty of apologies followed, missed calls on a daily basis, the situation left me depressed for months. I badly wanted her in my life, to continue the conversations from where it ended but all went in vain. I was immature to prioritize my career, and failed to concentrate on studies. The placement was round the corner!
I decided to reveal the story to my parents and seek advice. After a lot of hesitation, I opened up. Initially, they scolded me but the few words and motivation was all I needed to get back to life! They explained the reality of life and how things work during adolescence. It was tough to get a move on- but yes I did enough to forget the past, prove myself and my capabilities and start a new journey. I was rejected by TCS which was the largest recruiter of our college. Although I gave my best, “Lady Luck” wasn’t on my side. It left me devastated. My friends tried to console me and said that things will slowly fall in place, once I keep on trying and have the patience to see off the bad times.
I didn’t lose hope and really started preparing seriously. Meditation helped me a lot. Besides, listening to songs whenever I didn't feel like studying helped to relieve the mind. It gave me peace. Something I was desperately looking for! And to sum it up, I bagged two job offers – Cognizant & Capgemini with the role of Software Engineer. One year down the line, I was promoted to Senior Software Engineer based on my performance. And guess what- I left it to fulfil my dreams of being a management consultant. Yes, I studied hard and got admission to my dream business school.
Every cloud has a silver lining. You need to see through the bad times to realize your true potential. Learn from your mistakes and rectify them. As the saying goes, you fall only to rise to greater heights.