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What Are The 5 Things You Can Do To Shield Yourself From The Vices Of Engineering Colleges?
What Are The 5 Things You Can Do To Shield Yourself From The Vices Of Engineering Colleges?
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You would’ve imagined the next 4 years rolling out like a Harry Potter adventure. Granted, you weren’t really at Hogwarts, but you still expected to have a variety of inspiring subjects. The teachers would be cool in their own way. You would get to perform some amazing experiments. You might have imagined meeting some of the best minds in the country, befriending them and coding all night long with them to build another Facebook.
Except for the fact that you didn’t actually get to do it.
The subjects stopped being interesting the day you were assigned to write a 20-page assignment on an age-old technology. The teachers stopped being cool when they didn’t care to bring their best game to the table and you had to haggle over marks with them. The students in your class didn’t really aspire to be engineers and were there instead, to follow the norms laid by the society for a science student.
Such a situation is enough to turn anyone into a less-than-stellar version of themselves. The truth is that it does happen to a lot of engineers. They lose their shine, their drive, their curiosity, their creativity, and become another spoke in the wheel of an outdated educational system.
In short, they develop vices.
Voldermort lusted for power. Loki had his lies and mischief. Tywin Lannister held a strong prejudice against his youngest dwarf son, Tyrion, which led to his death. The Evil Queen Stepmother in Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs was full of vanity.
All of the above are examples of vices- traits and characteristics that led to a character’s downfall. Dictionary.com defines vice as a shortcoming, defect, or fault. And, if you think that only fictional characters have them, think again. They can be found and bred in our world too- sometimes in ignorant ways and copious amounts.
You might have a few vices of your own, too and like some of the most popular characters mentioned above, you might have developed them as a result of circumstances.
In this article, we outline some of the most common vices of engineering colleges that students develop and what they can do to overcome them. These shortcomings will affect you, your career, and the kind of person you are when you go to bed. We need to make sure that they aren’t glorified.
Now, you might not have all the vices of engineering colleges mentioned in this list. Go through each of them carefully and run the laser of self-awareness on your being, discovering the flaws you might have developed unknowingly.
This is an easy one to develop, especially in the beginning when you find out that you won’t be attending your dream college after all. You hear and compare where you are in your life to the place your friends and Gugi Massi’s daughter are in. A quiet sense of panic mixed with defeat and discouragement slithers within you like a venomous snake.
This happens when students say goodbye to all creative pursuits and focus themselves entirely on academics. They do not care to develop communication skills or take time out to read non-academic books. It is a proven fact that creativity helps in improving mental health, the immune system, and the connectivity between your left and right brain, leading to personality development.
This develops when one begins to find excuses for what happened. ‘Because my brother played metal music all day long, I couldn’t study properly’, ‘my teachers aren’t qualified enough and so, I couldn’t learn anything’, ‘my college is not as good as IIT so I couldn’t land in my dream job’. Thus, pointing fingers but only at others.
This is the result of not taking self-responsibility. When you don’t hold yourself responsible for things happening around you, you don’t dwell on possibilities or options. Neither do you bother enough to ask what ifs, ‘What if you didn’t have to be just another engineer from just another college? What if you could receive the education you want outside your classroom? What if you could build a career exactly like the one you dream of?’
Because you stop taking responsibility for yourself, you end up following the crowd and doing what it does. Hence, you limit your options. Considering MBA, MTech for masters, thinking of startups or joining an MNC are traditional options.
While these vices of engineering colleges are pretty common and can be seen in people walking through the hostel corridor, or snacking-out in college canteen - there’s a lot you can do to shield yourself from these.
Rule no. 1: Stop comparing.
Rule no. 2: Follow rule 1 at all times.
The comparison doesn’t get anyone anywhere. It is a vicious circle that only drags you down. You won’t get demotivated if and when you don’t compare. Make comparisons with yourself only, and remember, you make more progress every day than you give yourself credit for. Cut yourself some (healthy) slack and keep going.
This one is easy. Dive back into your creative pursuits, irrespective of how little time you have. Make it a point to play your guitar, read a new book, write calligraphy or dance a little every day.
Join the debating society, the dance troupe, the drama club- whatever gets your creativity flowing. It will energize and vitalize you in ways you didn’t think possible. And trust us, you’ll perform better academically. Keep a habit tracker app on your phone, and let it monitor your progress as you grow multi-dimensionally.
All you need to do for this is to start taking responsibility for your past, present, and future. This means acknowledging that whatever happened was your responsibility (be sure not to say ‘fault’), which applies to your current situation as well as the place you will be in the future.
Excavate your consciousness to figure out what your dreams and goals are, the kind of career you want to have, the kind of engineer you want to be, the kind of person you want to be. Then wrap it up by saying: ‘All of this is my responsibility. I’ll make this happen.’
This will follow naturally once you start holding yourself responsible. Questions like ‘What do you want? Where will you find what you want?’ will take shape then.
The onus for making things happen is on you. You have to score the 9 GPA. You have to land in an internship as a Business Analyst. You have to take the Udemy course on Data Science. Consider these questions: ‘How will you make it happen? When will you carve out time for it? How will you prepare the best way possible for your interviews?’
For once, dare, and imagine the ideal life and career that you want. Imagine the kind of work you want to do, the salary you’ll earn, what your work ethics will be, how you’ll interact with the environment and how others will interact with you. Then explore all your possible options, ‘Does MTech really suit you? Would you be able to work in the pressure of corporate offices? Are you preparing to go abroad simply because your best friend says that’s the only place to earn bucks?’ Do not restrict your options and chalk up a few pathways that could get you where you want.
No matter what your vice is, it’s possible to overcome it and still ace the game. It requires a proactive approach and you’ll have to work more than what you had initially bargained for. But when you see all of it playing in front of you as your very own freakin’ life, you’ll be happy for putting in all the effort. You’ll be thankful for taking all the pain and not letting the vices of engineering colleges define you or your career.
You’ll be proud of yourself: you finally made it!
Except for the fact that you didn’t actually get to do it.
The subjects stopped being interesting the day you were assigned to write a 20-page assignment on an age-old technology. The teachers stopped being cool when they didn’t care to bring their best game to the table and you had to haggle over marks with them. The students in your class didn’t really aspire to be engineers and were there instead, to follow the norms laid by the society for a science student.
Such a situation is enough to turn anyone into a less-than-stellar version of themselves. The truth is that it does happen to a lot of engineers. They lose their shine, their drive, their curiosity, their creativity, and become another spoke in the wheel of an outdated educational system.
In short, they develop vices.
What exactly are vices?
Voldermort lusted for power. Loki had his lies and mischief. Tywin Lannister held a strong prejudice against his youngest dwarf son, Tyrion, which led to his death. The Evil Queen Stepmother in Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs was full of vanity.
All of the above are examples of vices- traits and characteristics that led to a character’s downfall. Dictionary.com defines vice as a shortcoming, defect, or fault. And, if you think that only fictional characters have them, think again. They can be found and bred in our world too- sometimes in ignorant ways and copious amounts.
You might have a few vices of your own, too and like some of the most popular characters mentioned above, you might have developed them as a result of circumstances.
In this article, we outline some of the most common vices of engineering colleges that students develop and what they can do to overcome them. These shortcomings will affect you, your career, and the kind of person you are when you go to bed. We need to make sure that they aren’t glorified.
The Vices To Check For
Now, you might not have all the vices of engineering colleges mentioned in this list. Go through each of them carefully and run the laser of self-awareness on your being, discovering the flaws you might have developed unknowingly.
The vice of demotivation or discouragement
This is an easy one to develop, especially in the beginning when you find out that you won’t be attending your dream college after all. You hear and compare where you are in your life to the place your friends and Gugi Massi’s daughter are in. A quiet sense of panic mixed with defeat and discouragement slithers within you like a venomous snake.
The vice of becoming one-dimensional
This happens when students say goodbye to all creative pursuits and focus themselves entirely on academics. They do not care to develop communication skills or take time out to read non-academic books. It is a proven fact that creativity helps in improving mental health, the immune system, and the connectivity between your left and right brain, leading to personality development.
The vice of not taking self-responsibility
This develops when one begins to find excuses for what happened. ‘Because my brother played metal music all day long, I couldn’t study properly’, ‘my teachers aren’t qualified enough and so, I couldn’t learn anything’, ‘my college is not as good as IIT so I couldn’t land in my dream job’. Thus, pointing fingers but only at others.
The vice of not asking questions
This is the result of not taking self-responsibility. When you don’t hold yourself responsible for things happening around you, you don’t dwell on possibilities or options. Neither do you bother enough to ask what ifs, ‘What if you didn’t have to be just another engineer from just another college? What if you could receive the education you want outside your classroom? What if you could build a career exactly like the one you dream of?’
The vice of following the crowd/restricting your options
Because you stop taking responsibility for yourself, you end up following the crowd and doing what it does. Hence, you limit your options. Considering MBA, MTech for masters, thinking of startups or joining an MNC are traditional options.
While these vices of engineering colleges are pretty common and can be seen in people walking through the hostel corridor, or snacking-out in college canteen - there’s a lot you can do to shield yourself from these.
What Can Be Done?
For demotivation and discouragement
Rule no. 1: Stop comparing.
Rule no. 2: Follow rule 1 at all times.
The comparison doesn’t get anyone anywhere. It is a vicious circle that only drags you down. You won’t get demotivated if and when you don’t compare. Make comparisons with yourself only, and remember, you make more progress every day than you give yourself credit for. Cut yourself some (healthy) slack and keep going.
For one-dimensionality
This one is easy. Dive back into your creative pursuits, irrespective of how little time you have. Make it a point to play your guitar, read a new book, write calligraphy or dance a little every day.
Join the debating society, the dance troupe, the drama club- whatever gets your creativity flowing. It will energize and vitalize you in ways you didn’t think possible. And trust us, you’ll perform better academically. Keep a habit tracker app on your phone, and let it monitor your progress as you grow multi-dimensionally.
For not taking responsibility
All you need to do for this is to start taking responsibility for your past, present, and future. This means acknowledging that whatever happened was your responsibility (be sure not to say ‘fault’), which applies to your current situation as well as the place you will be in the future.
Excavate your consciousness to figure out what your dreams and goals are, the kind of career you want to have, the kind of engineer you want to be, the kind of person you want to be. Then wrap it up by saying: ‘All of this is my responsibility. I’ll make this happen.’
For not asking questions
This will follow naturally once you start holding yourself responsible. Questions like ‘What do you want? Where will you find what you want?’ will take shape then.
The onus for making things happen is on you. You have to score the 9 GPA. You have to land in an internship as a Business Analyst. You have to take the Udemy course on Data Science. Consider these questions: ‘How will you make it happen? When will you carve out time for it? How will you prepare the best way possible for your interviews?’
For following the crowd
For once, dare, and imagine the ideal life and career that you want. Imagine the kind of work you want to do, the salary you’ll earn, what your work ethics will be, how you’ll interact with the environment and how others will interact with you. Then explore all your possible options, ‘Does MTech really suit you? Would you be able to work in the pressure of corporate offices? Are you preparing to go abroad simply because your best friend says that’s the only place to earn bucks?’ Do not restrict your options and chalk up a few pathways that could get you where you want.
Conclusion
No matter what your vice is, it’s possible to overcome it and still ace the game. It requires a proactive approach and you’ll have to work more than what you had initially bargained for. But when you see all of it playing in front of you as your very own freakin’ life, you’ll be happy for putting in all the effort. You’ll be thankful for taking all the pain and not letting the vices of engineering colleges define you or your career.
You’ll be proud of yourself: you finally made it!
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