Why I left My Dream College, ISI?
I'd like to share a story of a confused student, a confused dreamer, and a confused JEE aspirant. A story of mine. Let's get into it!!
THE DREAM!!
Like every other middle-class college-going student, I always had this dream of getting into a prestigious national institute, especially IITs. Ever since I was a child, I was told how great IITs are and how tough the JEE Adv papers are. So I decided to work as hard as I could to crack JEE Advanced. I planned my routine and managed to put in 10-12 hours of study per day. Though some days were hard, I somehow managed to learn something new every day. Sometimes I used study for 11 hours and sometimes I would study only for 7 hours. No matter how discouraging my day was, I never gave up. So far, my weekend exams were going well and my scores were satisfying. But then something stuck my min ind!
THE QUESTIONS?
Once, while I was talking to my friends, I was asked a very casual question. " What is your favorite subject?". Surprisingly, I didn't have an answer for that. I remained silent, but within, I kept asking myself the same question over and over again. I realized that I never judged any subject, so I never had a favorite one. I always love learning something new! That's what mattered the most to me.
Putting this question aside, I continued working for exams. After being obsessed with the dream of IIT, I questioned myself, “What if I don't clear JEE? Will I be able to take that? What should I do if I couldn't make it?"
So I figured out a solution for that. I looked up for ous colleges and their entrances (depending on my criteria). I chose a few of them, those with lesser competition than JEE and other private entrances. One of them was ISI (Indian Statistical Institute). Initially, I liked all the subjects equally but gradually my love for Math grew stronger. Eventually, ISI became My DREAM College!!
THE DILEMMA
ISI is a prestigious national institute, very much like IITs and NITs, but it is unpopular among the ents. ISI has an entrance exam after which the qualified students will have to attend an interview.
I cleared my written test and my interview was scheduled to tfor month of July, which was after my JEE Mains session-1. Fortunately, I cleared JEE Mains with a promising score and was dreaming about my favorite exam, ADV. I attended the interview on July 22nd and gave my best. To my surprise, I cleared the interview round too!! I was really happy. I planned for giving my best shot in JEE Adv and if I couldn't clear it, ISI would have been my choice.
It was August, when I gave both theattempts for my JEE Mains and started preparing only for Advance exam. For some reasreasonlost my confidence that I could clear JEE Adv, but I didn't give up! ADV is always my favorite exam. Everything was going almost goodwell a few days and then it took a sudden turn! I was pushed into a situation where I had to choose only one, get admission in ISI or attempt JEE Adv…!! It was like 'Now or NeveNever
THE SACRIFICE
I realized that I had to sacrifice one thing if I had to get the other. I immediately spoke to my family about my situation and each one had their own opinion and I was totally confused!! My favofavoritem, which I get to write only once in my lifetime, or my dream college, which would decide the course of my future. After all the discussion, the decision was left to me. I boldly took my decision and stuck to it. I gave my JEE Adv exam on Aug 28th.
Fortunately, I cleared it!! And now, I'm into my favorite IIT, IIT KGP!! Now, I'm happy like never before…!!
When it comes to decision-making, it's always about a simple question, “What matters the most to you?"
You can find more about ISI on it'sitssite: Indian Statistical Institute
With regards,
P. Aasrith Chandu
Student.
Note: Opinions expressed by authors are their own.
Pic credits: ISI Kolkatta
Aasrith Chandu
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