From "No science" to "Computer Science"

-by Subhodeep Sarkar

 

 

School. The place now I miss the most. Life's some of the most joyful and lovely years have passed here. Now when I look back, I realize that to me, the school was not all about studies, friends, creating memories. It was also about making some of the critical decisions that transformed my life completely. This post is all about those decisions that I had taken.Board examinations are given a lot of unnecessary priority in India. In other words, board examsare too overrated here. Why? Even I don't know the reason. People say it shapes a person's whole life. And the good news is they don't. Now when I'm in my college's 2nd year, I have fully realized this fact. What shapes your life is you. Well, why am I saying that? Let me narrate you a story of my so-called decisions.I had appeared on my first board exam in 2016. I was in class 10 back then. All of my family members were stressed about my marks because that's what the Indian education system relies on. After two months, examination marks were released, and I achieved 7.8 CGPA. I was quite happy but not completely satisfied. Several of my friends got 10 CGPA. They all were boasting about their marks, and I was sitting on the backbench all alone trying to figure out which stream I should choose now?The scheme was such that if a student has achieved more than or equal to 7.5 CGPA, he or she can choose any of the following streams, namely, Science, Commerce, and Humanities. Students above 6.2 can have two options; Commerce or Humanities. Lastly, students below that can only go for Humanities. I somehow feel this criterion is not appropriate to make a student choose from the three streams. I mean, who said that Humanities do not take brains or who said that science is the superior of all of them? Indian society thinks that students in the science stream are geniuses, students of commerce are moderate, and students in Humanities are dumb, which is wrong.Coming back to my story, I opted for commerce for a reason. I wanted to get the taste of entirely new subjects. We all have studied subjects like chemistry, biology, history, geography, but we had never heard of subjects like accountancy or business. I didn't have mathematics as my main subject because I took Informatics Practices as my elective subject due to my love for computers and technologiesMost of the students who scored over 7.5 opted for science. They chose science not because they were interested in science but because society had brainwashed their mindsinto believing that it was the most superior stream among all three. Their academic performance dropped drastically in a year. Those students who were once a topper were struggling hard just to pass the exams. Some of them even failed in 11th standard, because they were actually never interested in science. They just opted for it because either their parents forced them to do so or they just wanted to be "superior" than the others.As time passed, I built a substantial interest in Informatics Practices, and I topped every exam. I also used to top my economics. I was not good at accounts, and thus I decided to get a degree in computer science. I got demotivation from almost everybody I know, including my best friend, my classmates, my teachers, my neighbors,and also from some of my family members. But my mother stood by me every single time. She does not have a lot of degrees, but I bet she is a lot more compassionate mother who never forced her son to make decisions according to her choice. Anyway, I appeared for my board exams. The results were announced lately due to the paper leak incident of CBSE. I achieved 89%. My parents were ecstatic. I was feeling happy for them and, of course, myself. Board exams are weird. All of your relatives, neighbors, friendssuddenly become super concerned regarding your career who don't even care to call you on your bad days.There was so much confusion. There were B.Tech CSE and B.SC (CS) which required to have PCM at 10+2 level. Another option was the polytechnic diploma, after which I would be eligible for B.Tech CSE. But then I came to know one another option, which kept my hopes alive, and it was BCA. Some discouraged me, saying, "only science students can take BCA." Some said, "you didn't have maths how would you survive the mathematics at graduation level?". However, the problem with BCA was that some of the colleges would compulsorily require mathematics as the main subject at +2 level. I had a very limited number of options. I went for Amity University Kolkata and hadto appear for an entrance test and interview, which luckily I passed. I got a scholarship of 20% off. But I didn't join that college due to transportation problems. It would take 4 hours to reach the college by bus and again 4 hours to return home. It would have been challenging for me to study if I opted for that college. Then I finally joined Techno India Salt Lake. Two of my other classmates also joined with me.The first year was like hell. The C programming language, digital electronics, calculus, differentiation, integration. Students like me were completely new to the subjects, whereas students who had come from the science stream were familiar with these. They already knew it all. I was a complete stranger to these. I had to face a lot of difficulties, but I never give up. Yes, I wasn't familiar with these, and yes, science students had the upper hand on these, and maybe I won't be able to solve sums as good as them, but even so, I used to tell myself "even if I can't beat them, even if they are better than me and I'm a commerce guy, I won't give up!". Slowly the differences between science and non-science students started to fade away as the semesters passed by.Meanwhile, some of the students from the science stream of my school dropped. Some went for B.A (English )(Hons.), and some wholly left studies out of frustration. This semester is the end of my 2nd year, and I am glad to tell you that I am among the top students of my college and planning further to do MCA.You cannot excel in anything which you don't love. Do what your heart says, and you'll see that there are no boundaries stopping you. Don't listen to what others say. Do what your heart says. Don't do it just because "log kya kahenge?" (What would people say?). And board exams don't decide your future. You need them as proof for your name and address and date of birth. Sure, your +2 stream does have a bit of significance over your career, but if you have the burning desire, then no one and nothing can stop you.Education is not about marks, and your career does not depend on the stream you choose, your board exams don't decide your life. Your hard work, attitude, patience, confidence in yourself, and burning desire determines your life.