Mystory@Manish S: How I selected my course and college for my chosen career path

I have always been interested in cars and bikes and love reading car magazines and sketching out random car designs all the time. Once I reached high school, I was sure that I want to work in the automobile industry and design cars in future.

This meant that I had to take up something related in my pre-university course. I wasn’t particularly interested in Biology, whereas computer programming always seemed too confusing to me. Hence, I opted

to take up Electronics as my core subject in pre-university college (Class XII). Everything went on well as expected as I managed to do well in academics as well as sports. I represented my college in state level cricket tournaments and also passed Class XIIth with 90% marks. I got a CET rank of 15316, which is decent to get the course you want in Bangalore, but not particularly in the best colleges.

How I cracked admission in my current college

Second year PUC was a pretty hectic year, managing time between my college, tuitions and sports. I was going to Mr Anand in JP Nagar to learn math as I was not really good at it. This continued and soon the board exams began and got over as well. This was a huge relief but there was another important step – the CET exams which needed extra time and attention.

As we know, CET is a turning point as it determines which college and course you get into. I didn’t want to take any chances and I joined Sadhana Academy in Jayanagar for my CET coaching. This helped me quite a lot in knowing the tips and tricks of how to crack this exam. CET too came and passed by in a flash and soon it was time for the PU results. I got 90% and was hoping to get a good rank in CET too, but I ended up with a rank of 15316, which isn’t too bad but not what I had expected.

As I wanted to pursue automobile design, I wanted to do it from a good college. Just like every other engineering aspirant, I aimed at getting my engineering degree from RV College of Engineering (RVCE) or BMS College of Engineering (BMSCE), which are the top engineering colleges in Bangalore. To pursue automobile design, I had to opt for mechanical engineering or automobile engineering. Opting for automobile engineering would have narrowed down my scope for further studies. So I decided to opt for mechanical engineering.

But after my CET rank was released I realised that I need to set more realistic goals. Then I aimed at getting into Dayananda Sagar College of Engineering (DSCE) or JSS Academy of Technical Education in Bangalore for mechanical engineering. I filled my college preference options but didn’t get allotted any of these colleges for the first 3 rounds. Then I decided to try for Industrial engineering in these colleges and got into both. My first preference was DSCE and hence I was allotted a seat there.

I was first allotted a seat in Dayananda Sagar Academy of Technology and Management (DSATM), which was too far off from home and it would have been tough for me to commute and manage my time considering I was also into cricket and would have to go to the stadium very often. So, later I opted for a course in Industrial engineering and management in my current college (DSCE) which is close to my place, as this meant I would learn all the basic aspects of design as well as industrial management, which would help me widen my scope for further studies.

My college life – classes and extra-curricular activities

To be frank, my college life is fun and interesting. My initial days in college involved figuring out which building was what and exploring the campus. Later on, I made some good friends which has helped me get through college in a lot of ways.

Most of my time in college is spent definitely in attending class. I'm quite regular and haven't had any issues when it comes to attendance. Like any other student, I have classes which I like to attend and classes which I don’t like to attend. That being said, I try to maintain the minimum required attendance for all subjects or classes. I am a student who likes attending practical labs and classes where subjects are related to design and machinery. So I end up attending these classes more than the boring theory subject classes. I am really interested in sketching and drawing so I always enjoyed classes of CAED, CAM-D, KOM to name a few. Even though these subjects were pretty tough I liked attending these classes regularly for the sake of the sketching and design aspect of the subjects.

One of the reasons I opted DSCE over DSATM was because of their encouragement towards sports and extra-curricular activities. As I play cricket, I was selected in my first year to represent the college cricket team. I still represent the team and also went on to represent the VTU university team this year. Hence, some of my time in college also gets spent in the sports department. Apart from sports I don’t really get involved in cultural activities directly but I often help in the organization and management of these activities at department and college level.

Joining an undergraduate college after pre-university education is a new experience for any student. This may be a positive or a negative one. For me though, it was a positive one. I just feel that going into a major institution like this shows how things work at a larger level and also makes you meet a lot of new people from different walks of life. Hence, college life builds up a major part of our life’s experiences.
I would not say joining this college has really changed me rather I would say these experiences have helped me become a better person.

About the Author:

I’m an engineering student interested in sports. I took up cricket at a young age and still play for my college and university. I also play basketball and football but not as a serious sport. Love travelling and exploring new places. I plan to make my career in automobile design.  

Mystory is a new Shiksha initiative to provide students a unique platform to share their experiences right from college admission to career selection. Here’s your chance to get published on India’s leading education portal. We’ll be happy to publish your story.   Write in to us at: mystory@shiksha.com