JEE Main is already over and the result is about to be announced soon (I’m writing this on 27th Apr). The qualifying candidates will be seating for the Advanced, along with other regional and private exams. And the remaining people will either apply for other colleges or choose some other (completely different) career option or drop this year and give another try. I mean this is the usual situation. For now, I’m not counting some extreme, tragic cases. Keep them for some other day.

Before the first or second month of August, most of the candidates will figure out what they will be doing for the next few years. This sounds good. But do you (if you are reading this and you are a candidate) know what exactly lies ahead? If you choose engineering, then, how your 4 years of engineering life going to be? And did you ever care to ask yourself these questions before even preparing?

Well, I have myself survived almost 2 semesters of engineering (I’m having my end term in the next month) and therefore, I’m particularly talking about engineering, although there are a lot of career options to talk about. Now, let me be clear just at the beginning of it – I’m not a critic or someone who is fed up with his engineering life and is now trying to release his frustrations. Absolutely, not. In fact, this has nothing to do with any optimistic or pessimistic views. I’ll just be sharing what I have experienced, unbiased.

Let’s rewind to that moment 2-3 years back when your 10th board exams were out. The world showed you 3 paths – science, commerce, and arts. In the most ordinary situation, choice of your path was decided by 2 primary factors – your 10th result (CGPA or percentage) and preference of your parents. Though, in the few cases, students themselves choose what they like. Their choices are appreciable. Anyways, once, that phase is over, if your path was science, you were again introduced to 2 more choices (in the ordinary situation) – engineering or medical. If the candidate shows an inclination towards math, he or she is assumed to be of engineering stream, and otherwise, in case of biology, he or she is assumed to be of medical. Though there are few, who take probability too seriously and gamble with their lives by trying to target both engineering and medical.

Now your 2-3 years of +2 studies and coaching (if you have enrolled) is over and you are at the end of that path. Either, you’ll be admitted to an engineering institute or somewhere else (about which you never thought before, which is quite strange for someone who is from another planet, though it’s normal here!).  Let’s assume that you make it to an engineering institute. So, what’s next? You might have watched some NatGeo shows on MEGASTRUCTURES or something like that and you know that people who plan their constructions are called civil engineers. So, are you thinking about taking civil engineering? Or, you might have intrigued by artificial intelligence, machine learning, and a whole lot of hot stuff going on in the field of Computer Science. Or maybe that, circuits gives you a thrill and you are thinking about Electrical Engineering.

Does any of this sounds good? Yes, they, are – people are choosing branches just because they are interested. But all of them are ideal. And as you might have learnt in Gaseous State, that ideal gases don’t exist in reality, these things also don’t happen in reality. Rather, students choose branches according to their ranks in the exams and how those branches will treat them after they pass the course. That’s the funda. No matter, how much you appreciate your branch, if your 1st year CGPA is above a cutoff, you will upgrade yourself to a higher branch (in ordinary situation, I’m not talking of exceptions), most probably to Computer Engineering (though you might end up cursing coding for the next 3 years). Why this happens?

Some say, it’s all about a good career. What’s your view about a good career? Something that pay well? Then, you should be an investor. Or is it all about stability? Then, you should never think of joining any private company (not even the Microsoft or Google or Facebook). Or is it all of them– money, stability, respect, fulfillment? Then, start day dreaming, you are not getting all of these in this real life. Now, this is the point where we all get wrong, and most importantly our parents. When you sign up for the course before paying the admission fees – they don’t give you a warranty certificate. Nothing and no one can assure you of a good life. And you can make a good life (limiting condition, remember Limits from 12th?) just following any other career. If you feel like you are not making enough money, start investing alongside or google some money-making methods. Neither your engineering career nor your medical career guarantee anything.

The side effects of these poor decisions lead you to a miserable life. I know people who are in a XYZ branch without any interest. They just want to pass the course and if things go well, land in an average position. Or if no one picks them, they will either join another program (preferably management) or start their own business. So, is it what you wanted? Is this why you sacrificed your 2 years of preparation? There’s nothing wrong with higher education (be it in engineering or management) or with starting your own business. The problem is with the lack of enthusiasm and a mindset of submission. They feel as if they have made the wrong decision. Though they often fail to realize that it was not completely their own choice. And may be (I’m not sure) these people contribute too much to engineering memes and jokes!!

There are parents who complain that engineering is no longer a good career option, just because their children couldn’t make it big even after graduating from top colleges of the country from a good branch (goodness is proportional to the ranks required to get those branches). But I can even cite of people who made it big even after graduating from fairly good colleges. The thing is – you are no one to say how engineering is, since, it is relative. There are people who made it big and there are people who couldn’t. But you should know well about your preferences and make sure whether it was really you who took the choice. Still, you have choices left with you. If you feel like engineering is not for you, then, it’s not for you. If you feel it’s something you wanted, then, take it and study well. College doesn’t matter. Although, some branches require more expertise in the later phase to grow. So, you need to be careful about your branch preferences. Although I don’t prefer going with the trend if you don’t have interest in that branch. Internet is open for all and you can search almost anything. So, be informed. Information is the greatest weapon of this century.

I know people who, after failing to qualify JEE, chose other options (though they never thought about them) and are quite satisfied and are even excelling. Since, you have not experienced the 4 years of engineering, you don’t know what happens exactly. So, refrain from taking decision that are influenced by the biased views of others. This journey has both sweetness and bitterness. But if you do something that is close to your heart, in the long run, it feels better and it proves more meaningful. On the personal note, I have chosen both this stream and the branch, because it makes me feel good. There are stuffs which make me feel frustrated, but when I try to see the bigger picture, it again brings a sense of satisfaction, and this is what matters!

©Sandeep Deva Misra. All the contents in this post are copyright protected. 

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