How I cracked IIT JEE

March-May 2014. During the preparation of IIT JEE:
Probably, the most important time of my life. I was ambivalent; filled with anxiety, happiness, fear and excitement, all at the same time. Fear was the most dangerous of all. There were a lot of times when I doubted my ability to be able to accomplish things, but then, there were moments, when I felt, I could do anything and everything!

Few things to keep in mind

Well, all this happened in those beautiful months. I was appearing for the IIT JEE. There was a lot of pressure. I had thoughts like, “I will be competing with the brightest of brains in India”, and “What if something goes wrong?” but then, there were a few encouraging and motivating thoughts too, like “I have been working hard for 2 years, it just can’t go in vain”. It’s possible that you may not understand my words at this moment, but everything will get clearer very soon. Here are a few tips and suggestions from my part.

Firstly, whatever happens, DO NOT panic! Whether you are worried about scoring lower marks than you expect, not being able to concentrate or are lacking confidence, you need to focus and think about how to deal with these issues.

I recall an incident when I was preparing for the IIT JEE – I was a very bright student, but for some consecutive exams, it so happened that all my friend’s marks improved but mine either remained the same and in some cases even decreased. That’s when negative thoughts started creeping in. “What am I doing ?”, “Why is this happening only to me?” etc. It disturbed me for a few days, but then I decided to discuss this with my mentor, Ayush Bhargava, then a third-year undergraduate student at IIT Madras. After speaking with Ayush, I felt a bit relieved.

The point I want to convey to you all is that you will face a lot of difficulties and a variety of problems, remember that everyone goes through this. The ones that go ahead and succeed are the students, who think and try to solve these problems with a well planned out strategy, not those students who just sit and complain about their problems.

My life at IIT Madras

Now, my life at IIT Madras I would say is wonderful!. Lots and lots of things to do. If managed properly, you can have fun and learn at the same time. A beautiful campus, amazing possibilities, infinite opportunities and what not. You can have all you would like to do. What I’ve learnt is that at college, there will be dearth of time but not work. I have been doing a lot of things, like working with Avanti, doing tech projects, some competitions and not to miss, having a hell lot of fun! And all this came with a decent CG.

So my last words to you all will be to put all your efforts in now, so later, you can have everything you want. Wherever you are four months from now, you’ll surely understand that the hard work done now was worth it. All the Best!