There are many times when people tell you that if you are not the best at something, there is not much you can achieve. That fear weighs so many of us down that we give up even before we try. I was almost like one of the countless people who gave up on their dreams just because they didn’t come from the very best academic background.
I do come from a privileged background and have had a very cushioned upbringing, no doubt about that. I wasn't a very bright student up until eighth grade. Everyone in my family assumed and expected me to fall in my father's footsteps and take up commerce to expand the family business. I realised that science fascinated me in tenth grade, and I was curious to learn more about it. I convinced my father to let me take up science, and they agreed happily.
There was a teacher who taught me three programming languages in a span of a few months. It was because of him that I got to know about the computer science field and was instantly taken up by it! That's why I wanted to take up computer science in my engineering. His guidance made it easier for me to study programming and build a career I could be proud of. He continues to be one of the most important people in my life.
After finishing high school, I enrolled myself in VSSUT, Burla college. VSSUT is a government college and is one of the best colleges in Odisha. I always felt I could crack any product-based company, which rarely happened in our college history. I didn't get the IT or CS branches, so I had to pick the production branch. But I worked hard to get a good GPA in my 1st year, and with that, I changed my branch to IT. After that, there was no stopping me. I enrolled myself in all the clubs like coding and robotics. I got inspired by seniors and tried to follow my passion for coding for the next 3 years.
I studied hard, sometimes for hours at a stretch, got a good GPA, and learned to code well. I excelled at what I did because of sheer hard work. I got placed at a few service-based companies during college. But, like most people, I wanted to work for a start-up product-based company. Because of the confidence my college had given me and my passion for coding, I was able to crack an internship in a product-based company named Sharechat. I joined as an intern, expecting to be hired after the internship ended.
But as luck would have it, I wasn't hired. With a broken spirit, I spent a few months being jobless and confused about how to get myself back on track. Trials like these test your patience the most, and when one starts to lose faith in themself, it truly feels like the worst thing that could happen.
During this phase of my life, one of my friends suggested an academy that I could join. I met Abhimanyu and Anshuman sir after I enrolled in the course. I had known about Scaler Academy since March 2019, when it got launched. I knew about it as I used to practice numbers in InterviewBit.com. They talked about the benefits of such online coding courses, which would also strengthen my programming skills. They were very charismatic and motivating individuals. Moreover, everybody who is linked to Scaler is doing an excellent job. For people like me, who come from tier 3 colleges and don't have a lot of prospects, joining Scaler was a no-brainer.
Usually, my total hours of studying were close to almost 10 to 15 per week. My mentors showed me my path. They prepared me for interviews, and I even appeared for an interview at Google. I couldn't clear it, but all's well that ends well. I cracked an interview at ajio.com. Despite it not being my dream job, I quickly realized how lucky I was to be there. The team is well-coordinated and efficient and makes me want to be better, which means more to me than having a cushier job where my growth remains stagnant.
Some days, I go back to being the little kid who wanted to be a scientist, and I think I did so much with myself when I didn't know I could. Maybe I can fulfill this dream too. Life is unpredictable, right? The only thing you can be sure about is yourself. Might as well do your best for no one but yourself!
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