I started my first year unsure of whether I even belonged in the sea of engineers in B-school. Then, I was selected into the prestigious student committee that conducted market research. I felt the beginning of a beautiful kinship with 50 other crazed people. That ‘beautiful’ part was a perception error.
Over 6 months, a roller coaster journey - operating in zombie mode – eating, attending classes, giving exams, rushing to work, working – working alone, working with projects team, working with design team, working for 20 hours, laughing, crying, dancing at 3 am,losing my temper, consoling others, put up one event - ran 10 km in 12 hours in doing so. Next fortnight, traveled 400 km to put up another event, ate my lunch at 11.30 pm, crashed onto bed, slept 3 hours, and repeated it the next day. Stayed Alive.
Looking back – I don’t remember how I did this – but I knew I had pushed hard and fast, and surprisingly, I found a family. I remember Haruki Murakami after my storm got over, I didn’t remember how I managed to make it through. For the longest time, I didn’t know if the storm was over. But I knew one thing for sure. I had come through the storm and I was not the same person who walked in. And I’m grateful for the storm, to show me my limits, my highs and my lows all laid bare for my new family and old to see.
We cannot characterize a challenge as small or big, the only thing that can be measured is how we dealt with it and who we are now.