Shattered dreams : An Epilogue
Do we tend to be more fluidic, and progress unaltered after a minuscule obstacle or creep until we rupture after a small crevice? Taking a closer look at what raised or teared down empires, it wasn't novel weapons which instigated the glorious wars but mere words uttered by people in power. We seem to undervalue the potency besieged by words. The following two accounts make an attempt to justify the significance of them and stay inline with the theme.
Third : Life's an iterative code
High school results are out. Unflatteringly, a boy enters his registration number and date of birth while two others attentively look at the digital screen. Three months of home study, uninterrupted attention given towards a pile of books which wouldn't be given a second look now, and dreams of a family resided in the left click of a mouse on the submit button. A constant murmur of prayers and promises of later services to the almighty fill the air of the room which otherwise fell prey to a sea of silence in the examination phase. The screen flashes the results along with a percentage just over 91. The whole family rises in jubilance while some happy tears stream down the adult faces. Perhaps this is how success feels like, boy exclaims to himself. But the boy blistering his chances to get into a premier institution, had many private institutions at his disposal. He must answer this question before proceeding further.
"What engineering discipline would you like to pursue for the next four years, and quite possibly take stride for the rest of your life ?" asked a parent after narrowing it down into a engineering discipline.
The boy who was seemingly clueless onto which stream would work best to his interests, without a second thought delivers "I love mathematics, perhaps a stream which establishes on that would be perfect for me.". How naïve! Mathematics served as a medium for majority of engineering and science streams. One can either learn the founding blocks of the language and become a linguists or only the foundations which served as a requirement for the particular discipline. This benign knowledge was foreign to the boy and continued to do so for the next four years.
To this the parent answers "This foundational stream seems perfect for you. It involves working with machines and understanding the mathematical structure and dynamics of it. These foundational streams are quite diverse, thus increasing the span of applicable jobs and specializations."
The boy nodded and believed this would be the perfect stream for him. Unlike many other educational systems in the world, Indian education system doesn't provide this flexibility. As an eighteen year old, you must be aware of the discipline you would most likely pursue for the rest of your life. You aren't given a practice year wherein you get to devour what different streams have in offer, but stick your nose down for four years in a single stream. With negligible mentorship, the boy progressed through college and reached a crossroad. Many dreams were shattered at this point in the minds of many youth little to their knowledge.
Fourth : Grand scheme of things
In the eyes of the society, a twenty one year old is termed to be a young adult. Having completed his bachelor's, another crossroads presented itself before him. He remembered a particular verse from "The road not taken" by Robert Frost.
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Robert Frost
Among his peers, higher education in applied sciences was a "road" less throttled by. With little direction and guidance onto what entails in a master's and struggles one faces in a foreign country, this young adult started his graduate applications. Of the eight applications spanning from United states, South Korea, Japan, Switzerland to Germany, seven of them returned with decorated rejects. What was unknown to this young adult about educational institutions throughout our world is that, an institution will admit you into their program if they either find you marketable enough to the outside world, wading along with your achievements. Every one of their application requirement is to reinforce in their minds why you would be the right person to procure and nurture. No business can thrive without a motive and education is no different. Much to the delight of the young adult, he receives a lifeline in another country, to realize his dreams. After spending a major portion of his life in academics, this young man envisions himself to tread a life of a researcher. Mere words without necessary actions would only lead to a futile end result. After attending the first lecture in a new country, he quickly realizes how little twenty one years of existence prepared him for this moment. Adapting to a different educational system was easier when written on paper, in practice several semesters hardened the counterpoint. Two years lead to the maturity of this young adult as he countered some lessons to be learned much earlier in his life.
Having completed the requirements of the course, he sat facing his thesis supervisor before defending his thesis to the general public. With a disappointed look, the supervisor uttered "I must tell you this frankly after working with you for the past eight months, I don't think you must pursue research as a career. Perhaps PhD is not the best of the options to continue in your life. Start looking for alternate options in the industry, I see that you are very adaptable, you will do well in the industry." At this moment, another dream which had found itself in several one of his nights dissolved in a jiffy. Many seconds dwindled, after which he replied "Alright, thank you for your honest opinion. I will give a thought about it. Perhaps you are right. " As he stepped out of his supervisor's office, several negative thoughts which were well preserved in the corner of his mind came flooding in. Ounces of self-doubt, helplessness and anxiety came crashing in. But before all this occupies every facet of his brain, he had a task in hand. He needed to defend his thesis. After hearing such uncomforting words, he chose to defend his thesis only before his supervisor and two of his supervisor's colleagues. He half heartedly prepared the slides, and practiced only once in person before the supposedly big day. Very few of his acquaintances knew of this special day, and he defended his thesis in well under 90 minutes. He had a master's degree in his hands now, unannounced to the world, but what would he do next? Some things are best left unanswered and open to interpretations.
Disclaimer : These set of stories are fictional blend with some real events. I am not the protagonist of these stories. These works were particularly hard to write down, but I hope that I made enough justice to my impending thoughts on this topic and some of you found it relatable. Thank you for reading through it.
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