It's not just you ..
This is my feature article. I will continue writing on this topic, which as far as i know is one of the most important things for someone in my position or for someone just out of school, wanting to join in a good college, a good branch, an interesting branch of science or tech. There are a lot of geniuses in India, one should say everyone can be a genius from India. but from what i've experienced, among students just out of college, especially from andhra (where i come from), there is a lot of misconception regarding the branches available in colleges, misconceptions regarding what one would work on or learn if one joins some branch. this is important if you are interested in some branch, which you might not get and thus get discouraged, lose interest in your current branch, the work and academics. frankly saying, i am a victim of this. i used to think all that mechanical engineers work on were cars, engines, trannys, car mods and such awesome stuff (obvious i'm a car fan), that electrical engineers work on building new products for daily use, bettering the existing ones, that physicists work on everything with newtons laws and the coulombs current laws, that chemists are druggists, working on chemicals all the time, stuck in labs. i know there are people who find their calling at a very small age, their view of life gets restricted, their interests are narrowed. they are sure about their choices after school and their choices for life. but i'm not.
when i stepped into IITM, a freshie, who was supposed to be equal among everyone, i felt left out of the league, i felt inferior. There were people who knew exactly what they wanted to work on, what their interests were and some even knew what their life was going to be. I might've had a more general knowledge, i may've been interested in things different from what they did but i felt that they had a better start in their life at IIT. So, all of my first year, i worked on everything i could lay my hands on, worked with everyone i could meet, worked on stuff with all my heart and yes, it felt good. it does feel good to know that you are now an equal among your classmates, maybe not academics wise, but knowledge wise, experience wise. but one things which always gets left out is the academics. i didn't concentrate on my academics, working on everything but this, not caring for this. maybe i was interested in everything else or i just didn't know what i would get into if i had used all of that time, all of that enthusiasm on something from my branch, something i could develop on for the rest of my life. it is true to have diverse interests in life, maybe physics and games, sports, writing but not physics and naval arch or something likewise. you might get to know about stuff you didn't previously know, but once you get your degree, you cant say reload and shift your field. i used to feel i didn't know as much as my classmates, but now i feel i know too much irrelevant stuff, though amusing, interesting, practical or whatever it be not relevant to what i might work on in my unavoidable future. yes, there maybe people who come in, all knowing, determined, fixated on their views of their future, but not everyone of these people end up in the same stream
so, everything from above in one word, i want to tell every freshie coming into IIT, joining any college, don't have mis-conceptioned views about your branch, which might pull you away from your branch, which might curb your enthusiasm in academics and make them more of a burden and less of a fun.
when i stepped into IITM, a freshie, who was supposed to be equal among everyone, i felt left out of the league, i felt inferior. There were people who knew exactly what they wanted to work on, what their interests were and some even knew what their life was going to be. I might've had a more general knowledge, i may've been interested in things different from what they did but i felt that they had a better start in their life at IIT. So, all of my first year, i worked on everything i could lay my hands on, worked with everyone i could meet, worked on stuff with all my heart and yes, it felt good. it does feel good to know that you are now an equal among your classmates, maybe not academics wise, but knowledge wise, experience wise. but one things which always gets left out is the academics. i didn't concentrate on my academics, working on everything but this, not caring for this. maybe i was interested in everything else or i just didn't know what i would get into if i had used all of that time, all of that enthusiasm on something from my branch, something i could develop on for the rest of my life. it is true to have diverse interests in life, maybe physics and games, sports, writing but not physics and naval arch or something likewise. you might get to know about stuff you didn't previously know, but once you get your degree, you cant say reload and shift your field. i used to feel i didn't know as much as my classmates, but now i feel i know too much irrelevant stuff, though amusing, interesting, practical or whatever it be not relevant to what i might work on in my unavoidable future. yes, there maybe people who come in, all knowing, determined, fixated on their views of their future, but not everyone of these people end up in the same stream
so, everything from above in one word, i want to tell every freshie coming into IIT, joining any college, don't have mis-conceptioned views about your branch, which might pull you away from your branch, which might curb your enthusiasm in academics and make them more of a burden and less of a fun.