If I were to ask every student in my first-year batch why engineering it would not be a shock to listen to hundreds of different reasons but keeping that aside it was how it was. Initially, when I started to think about how one should be answering the “why” part, it made sense because our society is structured in a way that we generalize every student who opts for science after 10th asking him or her engineering or medical? The fundamental problem of society is that we just assume that one has his mind on one single track of either treating people or dealing with machines.
Not all engineering decisions are out of the free will in this country and the reason I believe is the mindset of Indians that cannot be changed for generations to come. It is a peculiar mindset issue that we have in our country that we always want to build our math in a way, that everyone should do math. This leads to more people saying that if your math is good you should take up engineering. The main reason why people go for engineering is what I believe is a valuable lesson that people take up engineering because they need 4 long years to decide what to do in life. There is nothing less accurate that captures my 4 years of engineering better than this statement.
It was not an option for me because what else are you supposed to do in an environment where everyone I knew was either an engineer or becoming one. When there are so many people who are here and going by the logic that so many people cannot be wrong. So engineering was the safest option and the best saying at that time was that “we’ll see”.
And then we will see factor came in and it was a journey of 4 years of studying things I barely understood, I was writing assignments that would convince google that I was a robot without the captcha. I was praying before every result day that somehow, I could clear that one exam which was always the toughest for no reason, that one subject that came in every semester.
4 years of engineering is what took me to realize that I was not meant for engineering even though there is a degree certificate that proudly proclaims my name in cursive letters that says I am a bachelor in engineering in computer science. It took me these many years to realize that taking up engineering will always remain one of my best decisions ever because I made friends and experiences for life. I realized that sometimes the term “we will see” is the best possible lesson for life ahead. My engineering life taught me how to be tough in every life situation. Back in those days, I used to be very afraid about my future, career, etc but friends around and the faculty kept me grounded and advised me to live in the present and simply focus. Now when I look back it all starts makes sense. My advice to all budding engineers would be that they should not stress on results and placements much because the aim at the end of the day should be to be a better and knowledgeable person.
I attribute what I will be one day to my engineering days and the days I prepared for IIT. These years made me resilient, instilled the skill of smiling and having fun in the face of adversity, and most important of all gave me such friends who could understand my state of mind and help me with assignments, attendance, notes, and whatnot. My days taught me that no matter what life throws at you, you can sustain and flourish if you have the lightheartedness in your heart and a few friends around who are yours and truly yours.
When I was in my first year when I gave my first viva, I realized that to crack any viva you need knowledge plus a lot of confidence. I have worked very hard to become more confident in my communication, my knowledge, and the way I express myself. These things surely cannot be learned in your engineering syllabus. I believe that the way we focus on our education and our knowledge, we should also focus on our personality and confidence.
In conclusion to my 4 years, I would say that don’t do engineering for the degree but the experiences. Sometimes experiences are more necessary than a degree in a folder and the class outside the classroom teaches you a lot about the world than your professor’s lecture.
-Rishabh Verma
Jaipuria Talks Blog 