‘One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs or the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls.’
“Little did I know, moving from Allahabad to Dehradun would change my life in so many drastic ways. This journey has been anything to everything; exhilarating, terrifying, fun, and so fulfilling. I started from Graphic Era University, a place which was so majestic that I cannot possibly describe it in words and phrases. As perplexed as you might be after knowing this but , I was a person who wasn’t engrossed much on gaining marks in the assessments or the semester examinations. Instead, I was more of a person who used to see academics as a learning opportunity.
I tried to take smaller steps to enhance my skills rather than taking a leap. I had a few rules set for myself, some goals, and priorities in life. One of which was sleeping early at 8 pm and waking up at 8 am. Seriously, I can’t believe now that I used to do that during my college days.
I pursued B.Tech CSE because I loved to code. It was something which I could do anytime and all the time. During my 2nd year, my friend and I started some research work under cloud computing. By the end of 3rd year, we already had a few research publications ready and published. We also presented an early research approach at a renowned conference of IEEE held in Bengaluru. A small stride that I took in 2nd year just gave me so much cognizance to absorb.
So little by little, I started working towards the goals I had set in my life. Like I knew that whatever the situation and circumstance maybe, I’ll always have the hard work I’ve done. It will make me confident. My hard word has made me realize my worth. There have been nights when I’ve just watched my favorite TV series a day before the exam. Also, there have been nights where I wanted to watch TV series but I studied for more than 6 hours when I knew that I needed to do it. It’s not about how many hours we study and spend time staring at our books. What matters is how long we actually do it with complete concentration.
Since my childhood, I’ve an excellent track record of getting ill or injured just at an exceptional time when I could not possibly afford to. I had typhoid, chickenpox, and whatnot during my ISC boards and my JEE entrances. When I was in my 4th year and waiting for placements, I was practically also waiting for the history to repeat itself and it sure did. Although I didn’t get ill, I just broke my right elbow. My parents advised me to come home. I wondered it might be convenient to go back and blame this whole situation but it’d be difficult to stay and try. So, I chose the difficult option and stayed there.
I started practicing from my left hand, wrote exams, practiced aptitude, coding, and everything else with my left hand. It seems quite easy but when there were time restraint tests, believe me, it is not as easy as it seems. A few of my batchmates were curious about how will I give my exams and were mocking over how insane it was to do it just for a company which wasn’t even offering much CTC. Despite everything, there were my friends who helped me in every way they could. I’d love to mention them- Pushkar, Prabhjot, Manvi, Phalguni, Saurabh, Nishtha and Aditya. They say there are friends, there is family and then there are friends who become family. I’m blessed to have such friends in my life. They made me realize people’s personal opinions don’t determine your worth. This is one thing one should remember always.
I sat for so many service-based companies, cleared many of them and I was elated not because I had cracked so many interviews but because I knew my worth which I was struggling to find till that moment. My mind was clear and my plaster was also removed. Whenever I went for my entrance exams, I said to myself “Well, here goes nothing.” I definitely gave a genuine try to all the opportunities I got but never really expected much from them. Learn it now and learn it well, experience is our best teacher. Failures don’t define you instead they make you stronger than ever before.
Amazon came to me as a surprise, maybe the best one I’ve ever got. I was flabbergasted. I was offered an internship at Amazon with the highest package in our college. Finally, I had taken the first step towards my dream. It was everything I hoped for and even better. Alternatively, my real journey began after joining Amazon. The 6 months of my internship were quite a roller coaster. I assimilated so much from there. I gave my 100% to get myself converted to a Software Development Engineer which eventually happened.
Now when I look back, I can see all the rejections, all the failures but now what I also see is the reason for them to happen. Now I know why they were important and also the worth of each failure I’ve faced. All I can say is that being positive in your life, always learning, always looking at the brighter side, seeing the half-empty glass as half-filled is what one should always remember to do.
The only advice I’d like to give is that you should never expect anything and take things as it is. Everyone indeed has their own journey and struggles. You might find it odd but life has always a way of figuring itself out, maybe sometimes in unforeseen passages but it surely does. The road to success is patience. You should never give up and have a positive outlook towards life. Just because today wasn’t your day doesn’t mean tomorrow won’t be. Also, I am aware of the fact that only a handful among the hundreds who started reading this article would’ve reached here. So, to the ones who read it till the end, you have all of my support. All the best for your future. Always remember, you have been assigned this mountain to show others that it can be moved.”
Instagram – @ishita.1721
*The views expressed in the above article are of the writer and not Winged Club.