THE QUIET HOMETOWN WHERE I BALANCED NEET AND MY DREAMS

NEET prep was like a roller coaster . Leaving home behind and living alone in an unknown city was tough. Class 10 exams had just ended , I thought i finally had some free time , but i was wrong . I had a big decision to make , something no one was prepared to make. I had to choose between three streams of higher studies namely SCIENCE , COMMERCE and ARTS . I never liked maths so commerce was off the table and I did`nt want to interpret what the poet wants to say so arts was ruled out which left me with science , Physics - Chemistry - Biology . 

Every PCB student in INDIA aspires to be a doctor , so did I . NEET prep was the only way to go and so the `suffer` (hindi word for journey , and i spelled it right :-) began  )  . The number of neet aspirants has exploded after the engineering bubble burst , the competition is the highest ever and it is only increasing .In this competitive environment survival is impossible without coaching and tailored lessons.

     After visiting multiple coaching classes and countless `scholarship exams` I found a good coaching , got good discount on tuition fees and the classes started less than a month after the board exams , I could`nt celebrate my newly found freedom from school 😔. 

My PG was approximately 200 meters far from the classes . Life was the same everyday , wake up , attend lectures , solve modules and repeat . It went on for a couple of months like this , I thought i had a lot of time till exams so I started to procrastinate and spent more time binge watching than studying . Class 11 passed by without much studies , my test scores were decent since I attended all lectures but not enough to survive . Class 12 started , I realized I was far behind my peers and need to get my act together , so I started to study more and put more efforts towards my goal . It looked like everything was going fine . But my scores tanked in the test series in the run up to NEET 2024 . I gave NEET and failed , not miserably but I could`nt score  enough . Improvement was possible from my score , I believed I had what was needed to be a doctor , so i decided to give NEET another chance.                

       

  Drop year started , everything was going in the right direction . No procrastination , no distractions . I was confident that I will secure a medical seat this year . Test scores were good and teacher feedback was positive . 

       But our beloved NTA had different plans , after the blunder last year it was determined to get it`s revenge . And it did . Every minute of the exam was a nightmare . Some say the paper was the toughest ever . Now I`m not sure about selection . Everything is uncertain , unpredictable .

                                                                          

  I was back home after a long time , almost three years . The warmth of my very own room and comfort of my very own bed was overwhelming . Being with family did help but the stress would`nt go  away , falling asleep was becoming difficult .  It had rained the day before so weather was quite cool that day , so I went out on my bicycle , there is a village around 4 kilometers from my house , I used to bike till there before i left so i decided to check if things had changed . There was a cold breeze and the setting sun was beautiful , everything was almost the same . Going through the green fields I had a realization . 

Becoming a doctor was never the ultimate goal , It was Happiness . The dream to have every joy life can offer and to grow old in a cozy home with a sweet little family . All this needs money , lots of it . Being from a middle class family finding a job was the way to go. The common perception some time back was that engineers earned enough to realize `the dream` , today it is doctors who are perceived to earn enough , if not loads of it. Certainly there are other ways to earn loads of money , dumping the society`s views is the way to go . If I don`t become a doctor I can do other courses like BDS , Bsc. Pharma etc . To earn loads you have to be in the top one percent and top 1 % people in all these professions make a lot , enough and more to realize THE DREAM . 

   Remember what Rancho said in 3 idiots “Pursue excellence, and success will follow"