A tree of weak roots will not sustain any longer : Akash Kumar Champatiray

My performance in class 10^th board exams encouraged me to pursue with Science stream in my 11^th and 12^th. Since I scored well in 10^th, I was able to seek admission into the best college of Odisha, BJB Junior College to pursue with my senior secondary education.

Ever since my childhood, I had a keen interest in Science and its application, and this college itself was providing the best science education to its students. So, to accomplish my dream, I joined it. Including this, my school teachers and my seniors also provided me the details about the college and the main attraction was, that it was situated in the capital of Odisha, Bhubaneswar, which is nothing short of an educational hub.

As anyone could get the best teacher and the best coaching center to prepare for the upcoming entrance examinations like JEE Main & JEE Advanced , NEET ,NEST, etc., I also had this in mind to take admission in this college as well as to take the Science stream (Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Biology) at that very moment.

Everything went well as per my expectations. I also joined a local coaching center named APEX. The faculty at APEX was really good and as I had secured good marks in 10th, they were focusing on me to get better results. But, only I knew what was going in my mind. My friend circle was pulling me down and my performance was degrading day by day. I was aware of that but, didn't take an initiative to solve the issue. They never used to study seriously, which eventually encouraged be to ignore studies join them. I started wasting time in watching movies only.

During those 2 years, 10% of my time was spent watching movies and the damage to my career didn't stop there. I participated in the college election which made my career the worst. At the last moment, I only read the notes given by the teacher and went for the examination. After the first examination day, due to the fear of not fulfilling my parents’ dream, I was very sad and that fear resulted in flunking. Somehow, I managed to get 69% in the 12th examination but couldn't get satisfactory scores in entrance examinations.

After the unsatisfactory completion of my 12^th, I decided to go for one-year entrance preparation and unwisely, I chose a coaching center in Satyanagar. The main glitch that eventually developed was the Physics teacher who was providing the study material for Chemistry. After one and half month, my interest lowered towards the coaching centre and I stopped going there. I moved towards self-preparation in the hostel. But even that was not helping me in having a thorough preparation for the entrance examinations that I wish to appear for. This was due to lack of fundamental knowledge in the specific subject.

I had bought many books including those written by subject experts from all over the world, but those were of no use. Whenever I tried solving a problem from those books, I was unable to succeed as I lacked basic concepts. This was due to my reckless studying pattern during 11^th and 12^th, the repercussion was that my dreams and career goal suffered.

I appeared for JEE-Mains, VITEEE, OUAT, NEST and NDA that year, and after getting a fruitless result in all other examinations, I decided to go for engineering. But after seeing my JEE main scores, I concluded that I have learned something more than the previous year which was only due to my self-study. Although the result was not good enough, I had improved a lot in Mathematics.

I had appeared for JEE Mains Paper-1 and Paper-2. Paper-2 was for Architecture and Planning course and that paper mainly consisted of Mathematics, Reasoning and General Science, in which I did well and was even getting a very good college, but due to my family’s restriction, I went for engineering. Secondly, I had scored well in VITEEE, but due to the high college fee, I couldn't gather courage to take admission.

After that, the only college left was CV Raman College of Engineering and through OJEE counselling I was able to bag a seat. The course curriculum was excellent at CVR College. In addition to this, the college was worth the money invested. CVR College was charging extra fees in which it was providing students with the industry-oriented knowledge, and the industry people were training us directly.

The first year of course curriculum focused mainly on basic science and here I tried to fill my lacunae. I was not at all interested in Chemistry during my 12^th, but the professor taught the subject in such a manner that I retrieved my interest towards the subject. Most of the teachers are very helpful and friendly and my college life is being spent really well.

The college is providing the best education to its students but the campus placement is less for our mechanical branch. This is my 3rd year and next year onwards, I may sit for placements if I am found eligible by the scrutiny team. Not just relying on college placements, I will try my level best for other placement opportunities. If I am unable to crack, then I will not be depressed and will find another way out. A large number of opportunities are waiting for mechanical engineers and we have to reach that destination in whichever way possible.

I am not saying that I have chosen the best college, but this college is the best for me. As I didn't score well in 12^th, I couldn't get the best graduation college and this is the only college which was the best for me and also fit my budget. Since my childhood, I had dreamt of joining NDA but I couldn't. However, you should not compromise with your career. Work hard and be strong with your basic concepts because a tree of weak roots would not sustain for a long time. Hence, be careful friends, so that you don’t suffer like me. Focus on your studies, be practical and if possible, go for career counselling and choose the field according to your interest, then only you will be able to graduate with flying colors.

About the Author

My name is Akash Kumar Champatiray, and I am pursuing BTech in Mechanical engineering from C.V.Raman College of Engineering, Bhubaneswar. I am very much interested in writing short stories on fiction and my hobby includes watching movies.