As children we ask genuine questions but I wonder if any child got the answer she needed to hear. It is always the answer that some else want us to hear. The only answer I've repeatedly heard on why I should try to pass my 10th class exams with 90%+ is that I get to hope for good life. I am sure you might have heard some or other variants of it.
Three days I could recall
- It was last day of my schooling. I had a score of 9.3 GPA in my hands. Feeling terrible inside that I scored less than my peers and not feeling any grateful about peers who scored less than me. It made my mentally equipped to spend 17 hrs per day for next two years to crack IIT JEE.
- On a stupid day few months before 12th board exams. In front of ~300 students, I was talking about my goal to build a smartphone by studying at BITS Pilani. So embarrassing if I recall, because all that mattered(to most of in that room) back then were marks those come out of OMR sheets.
- About 6-8 buses loaded with ~60 students each routing to give their 12th board exam. I was somewhere in one of them with just 2 hours of sleep that night solving something on a question bank. As exam started, I mentally broke with question paper. Maths I resulted ~70 / 75 marks while that days Maths II resulted in ~36 / 75. All of this only to make me feel I may not study Computer Science because of some non sense final ranking calculations those days.
While those three days were different points, all 3 of them them happened somewhere between 2013 - 2015
Utilising economic opportunity
Around the same time, some one was trying to sell software to the world because internet made it possible too. Everything might have seemed to fit a perfect opportunity he began hiring and growing his team in Chennai. Like any company I guess this team wanted the right people to join their team to build software for the world from India.
- They probably got a great leader into the team to make the best use of business opportunity that this software has.
- This leader went on hiring to only find out right people for the job role that business requires.
Paths cross
By the time both of those stories reached 2019, the segments of both stories become one.
This new leader of company starting looking for a candidate who can write code, create content and cultivate a community. Maybe was hard to find. So he decided to bet on a candidate passing straight out of college to coach him.
This new leader of company starting looking for a candidate who can write code, create content and cultivate a community. Maybe was hard to find. So he decided to bet on a candidate passing straight out of college to coach him.
- I was that candidate.
- My current company was trying to utilise on the economic opportunity back then.
Here's what happened,
- a kid who is blind because no one answered his genuine questions the right way.
- a student who doesn't know why he took exams and depended on what is framed all around
- cleared so called exams just feel graduated
- cleared certifications, just to feel qualified
- to be coached for best utilise an economic opportunity that exists as a team member
The roles and responsibilities of that 'team member' is basically my job description.
Here begs the question.
How much efficient and worth was it to pay the cost of ~8 years of experience to find myself become a team member?
Melon in the Market
I stopped and given myself some thought to answer the above question to only realise I am a watermelon in the market. I am trying to sell myself to bunch of teams. World is a marketplace where teams come shopping for the best.
There will always come a summer where people need a watermelon. It's just that, by the time of summer, watermelons should be grown and kept ready to have them sold.
Similarly, all those certifications/exams were simply a quality assessment process for a consumer.
There is one difference though.
We need to be vigilant know when the summer of our life would come. But when it comes; Be ready to get sold.
That way, the cost that you pay for those ~8 years with emotions, pain, money and experiences can be reduced and improved for better.
There will always come a summer where people need a watermelon. It's just that, by the time of summer, watermelons should be grown and kept ready to have them sold.
Similarly, all those certifications/exams were simply a quality assessment process for a consumer.
There is one difference though.
We need to be vigilant know when the summer of our life would come. But when it comes; Be ready to get sold.
That way, the cost that you pay for those ~8 years with emotions, pain, money and experiences can be reduced and improved for better.