A Transformational Journey With Scaler Academy

Ahrarul Haque
5 Min Read

I don’t come from a very well-off family. I hail from a small village on the outskirts of Bihar, and my father is a farmer. Being the eldest of five children, there was always that added responsibility of working hard enough to ensure a brighter future for the entire family. Considering the obvious lack of opportunities, it was decided very early that I’d live and study in Delhi with my uncle’s family.

Since the very beginning, I was among the toppers at school. But my introduction to the world of joint entrance exams and the lure of tier-I engineering colleges happened quite late. While I was ill-prepared, I somehow managed to crack some of the IITs. Unfortunately, my rank wasn’t good enough to get me a computer science seat.

To be honest, the initial idea was to take up electrical engineering, because being able to see something you create work in real life was alluring. The reason I then became so interested in CSE was because it seemed like something everyone wanted to do. I got my first phone in grade 12, and reading and knowing about how the field has so much bustling potential only added to the final decision.

I got CSE in a tier-II college, and it was a no-brainer after that. The first year, however, was spent studying very little. It’s one of those things where you feel now that you are in college, you have all the freedom in the world. By tutoring school kids, I had begun to be able to pay for my own things, and that meant I wasn’t really dependent on someone. When I look back, it is something that makes me incredibly proud of myself.

After the second year began, I realized that I needed to get back to my path. It was necessary that I succeed and for that, I had to work hard. The next couple of years were spent studying diligently before placements began. The on-campus scene wasn’t so great and I managed to get into Samsung as a software engineer through an off-campus interview.

In between, I remember how I had tried really hard to crack an SDE role at Amazon but had been rejected in the last round. It was particularly hard because it was one of those drives that happen across the country and this one was in Chandigarh. I boarded a train in the night and was there for the interview without any sleep. To have gotten so far was great, but somewhere, I knew I was lacking.

During my third year, a senior who had been placed at Microsoft already, guided me and one of the resources he told me about was InterviewBit. In fact, I had a 200-day streak on the platform and still go back sometimes to practice! So, when Scaler Academy (then InterviewBit Academy) came along, I was one of the first few to enroll for the program.

Abhimanyu sir personally called me to inform me about my selection. I was delighted to get the opportunity to learn from industry professionals directly. What really stood out to me was that while I was solving problems even before that, the thinking process and approach was what changed. It literally changed the way I go about these things.

Sometimes, you know how to operate a sword but don’t know how to be a warrior. That’s what Scaler Academy did for me. I won’t say I am a warrior now, but I have the confidence and courage to tread along that journey. I was told that even if I’m unable to solve something, keep at it. The never-give-up attitude came from there.

From Vivekanand sir’s classes to my mentor Shivendra Pratap Singh, a lot of people guided us at Scaler Academy. As a mentor, Shivendra sir was fantastic. From understanding my skill sets, what I was lacking to helping me get better in those areas to reach my full potential, every single session was fulfilling.

Today, I am an SDE at Amazon, and as someone who belongs to the kind of background I do, it is a very proud feeling for everyone in the family. And Scaler has had a big role to play in that.

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