What's my Story?

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They say Revision is necessary, so here I am doing that with my life:) About how I left my JEE prep midway, started for CA foundation exams after 12th, ended up doing engineering at VIT Vellore, failing a subject in my second year and kind of finding what I like doing🌈✨ (1/n)

Should I do a disclaimer?🤣 "The thoughts mentioned are according to my circumstances and environment. Yours can be different."

Ideally, I should start from my very childhood but I don't have anything specific to tell here except : I lived (and still live) with my parents in Chandrapur, Maharashtra. They both work for the state electricity board as engineers in a thermal power plant. Done!

Let's start after 10th standard because I feel that's when changes take place, except if you had some school love story and they went to Kota?😂 Sorry if that made you remind them.

So after my parents thought that going to Kota was not right for me, My parents took my admission in a Resonance branch of my city. I still remember that day my father said let's go to watch that new movie Padmaavat as I was angry😂

I didn't want to take science at that time! I wanted to take commerce and then go to Delhi University for studying Economics. Social Science was my favorite subject in school. I was inclined towards business, finance, development etc

I could not tell them this directly don't know why. I told my parents just that I want to take commerce and naturally they thought I want to do CA, no wonder🤣 After some discussion, they sold the IIT dream to me which was sold to them by the coaching classes.

I accepted their decision. It wasn't clearly their, I was also involved. My parents aren't villains in this story. I think it is feeling so reading all this😂 just it's something they could not understand or it's going on the tried and tested path, they care for us, we all know!

I was from the beginning not so good at maths, logical thinking and stuff. School, board exams and all I used to get good marks, but outside of that school books, I was not able to think and come up with solutions, solve reference books so well like other students.

The Jee grind started. To sum up this period, I think it wasn't for me. The whole syllabus was logical and tbh, it felt interesting at times but I was not able to do all this much. I wasn't that bad also, I think.

In some 8 months, I realized this and decided to drop JEE advanced plans and only focus on MAINS exams. I somehow convinced my parents this and they agreed.

By the end of 11th, it was going well. I had been getting decent marks and all. I also found a new friend in Chemistry😂 Many students used to hate this subject, I just started liking it because I was able to score really well in that so naturally, frustration comes down.

11th was over, we got some 1-month break. I never went back to coaching after that. I strictly utilized the first 20 days of the holidays studying physics all time, I had so much to cover from 11th, most of us have😂

One day then I was studying similarly and I think I got exhausted. Why was I doing all this? What did I want from life? All that questions came up. I was watching a chemistry lecture on Youtube and a recommendation came up. It was a video titled failed in class 12? Now?

I don't know how after watching that I remembered I wanted to take commerce, go to DU!! The coachings keep us so busy that we forget things. I knew even if I had science in 12th I could go to Delhi University as admission there took place on the basis of 12th board marks!

What I have observed till now says that when we have free time, all such thoughts come up and we overthink. In this case too as holidays were going on, I got time to think (overthink also we can say😂)

So I decided to completely focus on scoring well in the 12th board exams! My parents got convinced after much drama, of course. So it was my friend's dad who called my father and told as he too wanted to leave coaching for not the same reasons as mine.

As the foundation was laid, I then told everything to them as to how they don't focus on board exams and all at coachings etc. They wanted me to keep a Plan-B of giving MHT-CET, it's the entrance exam for engineering colleges in my state.

I agreed as it was based on my state board syllabus but didnt't study for that👀 For me,I feel plan-B kind of makes you disalign from focussing on Plan-A. It's always A or nothing. It might be different for you or whether having a Plan-B or not can also depend on the situation.

I studied with only one goal of scoring well in boards and not enjoying what I studied and managed to get 96%, thanks to my analysis of past year trends! Did I make it to SRCC, Stephen's in DU? No!

As I was from Science stream who wanted to take admission in humanities/commerce courses, I had a dedcution of some% in my overall grades.

Also, their is no noramlisation of marks for students applying from various boards in DU, CBSE gives away marks, our state board doesn't. I am not here to complain about the system today, will let it for some other day🤣 The catch is that I knew about all this before only.

Still I risked it because I had that option of going to Mumbai and doing CA. I wasn't so sure about Mumbai as there peeps don't attend colleges, degree is for namesake just like we do in 11th and 12th. Their main focus is on CA exams. I didn't want one more competitive exam😖

I was not so sure about giving my next 5-6 years for CA. I wanted to explore while in college. I had made it to all top colleges of Mumbai. It was my state, of course I did it there.

Enters : The pandemic which again changed my destiny😂

I passed 12th in 2020, the same year everything changed. My board exams had ended by feb and I was free now till the results came up. I didn't prepare for MHT-CET which takes place after boards. I was to study CA was made clear by me in my house.

Results were to be delayed due to the virus, so I decided to start with my CA prep in May. I had joined coaching classes in online mode. I used to like what was being taught there, level-1 of CA-exams is not that difficult. I was introduced to accounts and many other subjects.

All this was going on and I was also chilling a lot. I had slept for most of March and April, got damn lazy! I couldn't concentrate much but I made sure to study somewhat till the offline world resumed and chill ( eat and sleep ) most of the time.

I had so much time to think again. Results came up in July I guess. Till that, I hadn't thought much. I filled forms of colleges in Mumbai and Delhi for Bcom. As all this was going on I was skeptical of doing CA, I wanted to go to college yar.

I heard that VIT Vellore, a well-known engineering college was admitting students on the basis of 12th marks due to the pandemic. Now I thought, let's do engineering👀, chill a bit in college, and at the same time explore what I really liked.

Till that time, MHT-CET was not done. I still had very much time to prepare. I knew If I studied for a few months, I will get into a good college in my state. But I had become lazy by then, I almost hated competitive exams by that time.

I filled the form for VIT Vellore and got admission there with some scholarships too as I had good 12th marks. All this was luck, we can say.

As I had already confirmed my admission there in August, I didn't care to study for CET. Stopped studying for CA as all this was happening but was lucky to know about the basics of accounts, company law and economics. They help in real life, I am slowly getting.

College was to start by October, I had much time. Again chilled for most of it. I had taken computer science, not just because everybody took it but also because I had that in 12th and had started getting curious about it. Thanks to a good teacher I got then.

There was also a time in 11th when I wanted to drop computer science and take electronics😂 as I wasn't able to devote time to that with this jee thing. I even went to college to ask if they could change, they said no.

Comp Sci feels alien at the first time when all your world is just PCM or B for science students. As I had time after I dropped coaching, I started to get comfortable with it.

Online college had started, I had fresh energy to explore stuff. I was also lazy by health and still am, one thing I have to change this year. Pic: This is so truee🤐😞

I didn't attend any online classes. By the start itself, I was introduced to this new world where skills matter and not degrees! My whole life was a lie or what👀, why do people grind so much in 11th and 12th then? ( at least in non-medical courses )

I was lucky as I had done what "I wanted" in 11th and 12th and not followed what the coachings and society were telling me. As I had left coaching in 12th, I used to get ample free time to play badminton, read, explore stuff and just be happy!

I now knew I have to work on skills and not grades in college. Again that Cgpa vs Skills debate is never-ending. For me, as I have earlier said, I don't really like to have plan-B if the B I don't like.

While this may sound stupid here, I don't want to be a part of that group that blames the education system without doing anything to change it at least for yourself.

Online college is the best time to take risks! I wouldn't have been in a way able to know myself if colleges were offline. It would have been running the same rat race as everyone else.

Sure, I know some subjects are really important. But I don't like the way in which that system is structured. I study things now by creating my own models. I have stopped studying for exams.

I to date have not focussed on college at all. My CGPA at the end of the third semester stands at 7.2 with a backlog. It really does not matter to me now if I get a job from campus placements or not. All I want is to explore what interests me.

I tried to try my hands at various things in the three semesters of college which have passed. I have procrastinated a lot during this period I know that. I was and am still lazy. Lazy me is writing all this down to review what I have done and discover what I want to do next.

I started making videos in Jan 2021. Wrote scripts, used a sun protector green cloth in my house as a green screen🤣 They were on my Instagram till Nov 2021. I don't know why I deleted them😂

I had made 3 videos. One on Netflix's black mirror. Kind of some review, not clearly one🤣. The next on What did I learn in 15yrs of schooling. And another on Netflix's Social Dilemma.

I had got many people supporting me, the videos were well received by some people but I stopped as I didn't like the process so much. The reason I started making them was I had just learnt editing videos using premiere pro and wanted to make something.

I just had some ideas which I was implementing. I also didn't like writing scripts much. It took me very much time brainstorming. Also, I felt that I wasn't able to add that value which I wanted to someone watching it.

When I used to go through the process of making a video, it used to be when will this get over and I post it online so as to get likes, comments, people tagging me in stories and I get dopamine hits.

Even now writing this my story thread, that excitement of quickly wrapping it and posting online is present. But now it's somewhat less I can say, I think I am more aware of my actions now. Short-form content has really made us impatient:(

Tried my hands at writing too. I used to write kind of podcast summaries, startup stories, and all. Fortunately, have not deleted them till now😂, you can find it here: vipulchaudhary31.medium.com/

I used to like writing this. Writing it down makes our heads much more clear about stuff. That's the reason I am writing this thread too. But after writing for some time I felt who will read this? It does not matter as it was for me. I was kind of documenting the things I learn.

But in writing it regularly and posting it, I wanted things to be organized and perfect. That needed time, I did not want to do this at that moment in my life. I also felt the need for guidance while doing this.

So I stopped but I still take notes and write them down on my notion. Will surely organize that and put it up online. I put up all thoughts I come across on my insta stories or Twitter. The platform depends on what it's about😂 This thing helps and makes you meet new peeps.

I can't remember when I started using twitter actively. Maybe it was mid-2021 . It has been my best decision ever. What a platform ikik! pic: My chat with a close friend @GauravSarda29 who just joined twitter

This year is going to be big for me, I hope it is for you too:) Turned 20 this month and I feel I am taking the correct small steps.

Coming back to the story: It's too long by now I know but I wanted to write it all down and reflect, so be it.

I also tried my hands at programming and marketing by now. I knew after some time that programming and all I can do but this was not something I want to do for life. Same with marketing. They would better be suited as side skills in a T-shaped skill set of mine.

But I was passionate about the tech industry, startups, learning how software products are built. And after some months in May 2021 I first heard about user experience design. I have never thought design in itself is anything more than graphic design😂

Then I started to know more about this and got surprised as to how much was there to learn.

One thing which is to be said is that the whole design community on the internet is amazing. So many people helping each other out. A lot of good content is being made around it.

As of Jan 2021, I have started with making my own systemized path to learning design, product, frontend development and knowing about startups. I "think" these are the things that I like doing with UX design being the main focus among them.

Sorry, the main focus will also be my health as I think not taking care of it from the beginning of the pandemic has made me super lazy and inefficient.

I am in my fourth semester now. College is still online. I also failed the theory component of DBMS last sem. It was due to my laziness. I didn't study and go and didn't get some answers to pass on net. I don't feel like studying anything if it is not taught in a good way now.

I wish to change this. I think I am too much into my comfort zone and my own life that I sometimes don't sacrifice.

I also have the urge to drop out of college. But I have decided I won't do that till I find a good internship or job. If I do that this year (that's my target), I have decided to give this a thought as managing learning on my own along with offline college will be tough for me.

So this is all about my life till now. I have not included what happened in my "personal" life😄, that was also challenging. Will do someday when the right time comes. I just turned 20 yar.

No big wins, losses or anything like that. It was just the story normal kid in its purest form.

If you read the full thread, please drop a message telling me. Joking, anyone can message😂. We could talk about things and be friends. I am always open to meeting new people:) Carpe Diem! (n/n)