I am a software engineer currently working with the Townscript team which is a faction of the Bookmyshow group. I work for them as a full-stack engineer. I live in New Delhi as I always have. I genuinely love online coding and learning new things about my prospects and potential every day.
Even though engineering was not my first natural choice, eventually, it became my dream as well. Without any mentor or a guide, I couldn’t figure out how to walk the path I had chosen. I was late to preparing for entrances so getting into IITs was not an option. I filled out a few forms and got into Uttar Pradesh Technical University. Despite that, I just didn’t feel like I was at the right place. I couldn’t get myself to like my college, faculty, or peers. I finished college with a horrible percentage. I graduated as a computer science engineer with no college placements or job prospects. The situation was truly dire and I didn’t know what I would do.
Three years after college I was still job hunting. That was truly nightmarish. You expect to get a job when you graduate college because everyone tells you that it is the natural next step! No one tells you that the struggle never ends. I was getting rejected for jobs that I was qualified for, which made me feel dejected in the worst of ways, and I started believing that I would never succeed professionally, no matter what I did.
The problem, I realised, was that I had no one to look up to. People need to feel motivated and inspired to want to be better. I wanted someone I could look up to in difficult or confusing times. To make things better for myself and get rid of the family pressure, I started selling products on Flipkart to get them off my back.
During the pandemic, E-commerce of Chinese products was banned. Everyone started saving their money and sales dropped to 10%. I felt like the pandemic was the lowest point in my life. I felt like I had wasted six years of my life. My life halted in front of me.
It might sound bizarre but I felt like I needed a miracle to spring back from such dire situations. It was then that I heard about Scaler from a friend. I knew if I wanted to succeed I had to upskill myself. I wanted to improve my programming skills and learn coding online. With Scaler, I finally had the tools needed to do so. I was solving problems with IIT and NIT graduates and beating them at the leaderboard. This made me realize how competitive peers affect life positively and make you strive for more.
I was finally being productive. I started studying 60 hours a week.
Things finally took a turn for the better. Throughout life, I used to look at people coding and was drawn to it. During the pandemic, I studied everything about Androids. I created and coded this app. Surprisingly, my translator app was downloaded on 1.5 lakh devices. Now, I had an app that I had coded, created, and marketed. Soon enough I flourished as a content creator in 8-9 months. I have my Youtube channel where I mentor young graduates like me. I always tell them to find what they’re best at early in life for success to follow!
I have also finally found my role models: Usain bolt and Abhinav Bindra. Bindra once said, “You win once in four years, but you practice each day for that one day.” I used to run behind big brand names and companies. I don’t run after big names anymore, I would rather be a skilled software engineer and work for a product that I believe in than just work for the sake of it. It took me a long while to recognize my interests and land on my feet. But, I feel like I have done so finally.