Mystory@Madhumanti Majumdar: How I made my career- the challenges and successes

Mystory@Madhumanti Majumdar

I took up Psychology as a subject in Grade 11 and fell in love with it instantly. It was a remarkable turning point in my life, my ideologies had changed while learning this subject. Everything I used to wonder about: humanity, relationships, career, nature and the environment, started making sense to me. It was then that I decided to take up Psychology as my career and have pursued it ever since. While I was doing my internships that were required to support my Master’s Degree program in Clinical Psychology, I worked with kids with disability. This is where I found my niche.

I changed myself to become a caregiver, a service provider, a support system for children and an educator. I could connect with special needs education and thus I became a Special Educator. I also worked in various hospitals and NGOs in order to widen my area of knowledge in this field. Initially, I worked with adults and took up counselling but as time passed, I realised that actually I derived my satisfaction from working with children. I was always interested in writing and I wanted to take up my thesis during my master’s program. I took up a challenging topic which is ‘Marital adjustment in women after one year of Mastectomy’. During my thesis I got the opportunity to meet strong cancer survivors who gave me more positivity. I fought with all the odds and after completion of my thesis, I successfully published my thesis in a renowned international journal.

I realised how noble the field of special education really is and I decided to take this up as a challenge. I will not pretend to know exactly how my kids feel, think or rather experience the world. I have no way of knowing what it feels like if I were in their shoes. My kids are unable to express emotions as a whole. So, the best I can do for them is to read their reactions throughout the day and gauge how they feel and what they need. I am someone who supports students with a wide range of learning, mental, emotional and physical disabilities. I try to adapt general education lessons which include reading, writing and numeracy and break it down into a simple basic learning platform for my kids.

As a special needs educator, the most important thing I learnt was to become a patient human being. My college education aided this aspect completely. The internships I took up during the course of my M.Sc program, helped me understand the real value of education, relationships and the feeling of inclusion. College taught me to follow a disciplined lifestyle, to be punctual in every aspect of my career. Even though college taught me all the theoretical concepts and enlightened us with in-depth explanation and understanding; however, it was practical exposure which I received from college that shaped me into what I am today.

About the Author

Madhumanti Majumdar is a Psychologist and Special educator who loves to be around children and be their teacher and care giver. Her hobbies include singing and dancing. She believes in enjoying every moment of life to the fullest.