Friday, November 7, 2008

Fight On!




Ever since I entered those preadult years, life's been on a role.!

Then.....

Parents said - "Your school doesnt have science stream, if you want to get into a good school in your 11th grade study HARD! "
Mamta's Action -"I did. I got a 96% in Math and Science which seems to be a solid score"
What happened - "I was going from one school to the other as they put up 1st and 2nd and 3rd list of selected students. I wasnt on any. Finally, I had to go meet up some influencial people to get my admission. Hear from them that if I should have studied harder if I wanted admission in a good school"


Parents said - "Study hard if you want to get admitted to a good college, since competition is tough"
Mamta's Action - "I dint. I dint score well a first few tests and so lost confidence in myself.Parents had a lot of expectations because I was intelligent and I dint seem to be able to fulfill it. I couldn't face MYSELF."
What happened - "I was lucky. Life gave me another chance. I scored a meager 58% and yet secured admission in one of the most prestigious universities of Gujarat because the overall pass percentage was low "


Parents said - "Make the best use of this opportunity"
Mamta's Action -"I did. I studied hard, got good grades. Took part in extra curricular activities and excelled. "
What happened - "The teachers praised me. The principal gave me special permission to walk into him cabin anytime I wanted to talk to him. I was looked upon by juniors. I was one of the most successful students in college."

Now..................

Finally my dream to come to US was true. I had got my Visa. There is was in one of the premier institutes of "the land of dreams!".. I was at USC. With so many dreams to fulfill I came here.


What happened -"I scored horribly in the first semester. Dint even score enough to maintain thelowest possible GPA (a 3.0) required for graduation. I lost all self confidence yet again. My carefully constructed strength through all the hardwork of 4 years was evaporating every moment. I finally got hold of myself scored a little better in the coming semesters and managed to reach the 3.0"


Finally, now is the time to look for a job. My university promises a 100% recruitment.I Worked hard on my resume. I visited the campus job fair. Reaching earlier than most people , I visited almost all the stalls that I could in the given time. I was happy with myself for the professional attitude that I carried during the fair. It was neither demure nor arrogant. But a perfect blend! Everybody asked me to apply online on my university's job portal.
Next I see is ...


"YOUR REQUEST FOR INTERVIEW HAS BEEN DECLINED!"


Every single day , receiving the same line again and again from USC's recruiting center. I even interviewed with a company who mailed me saying they have recruited a person who they think better fits the job. How would they know if I fit the job without asking me any real technical questions. But anyways, I guess thats what my dad was referring to when he was talking about COMPETITION.

USC keeps telling us to FIGHT ON! We must since we are trojans. But my question is , how long? Isnt a trojan a human too? Dont they lose hope? Dont they feel frustrated? Does everything have to be so discouraging to test how strongwilled a person is? Dont strong willed persons break down ?

How long do u FIGHT ON!?

15 comments:

Audrey said...

Thanks for coming by my blog.. I'm curious to know how u found me.

Which entry were u referring to?

Pls reply here. I will get ur reply in my e-mail n get back to u soon.

Solitaire said...

Of course strong-willed persons break down...but at what point they do differs from those who are weak-willed. Once again, looking for a destination never works. It is the journey that matters. If you don't fight hard enough, the fruits of your labor will not seem sweet in the end.

Patience pays. Trust me.

Mamta said...

@minggg
I was looking for a images related to disappointments on google and your image with the blog on disappointment came up.

Mamta said...

@solitaire
Patience pays for sure.. But can you have endless patience?

Mamta said...

@Minggg.. Here is the link to that
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://bp0.blogger.com/_yyYiz0hiQYg/SAsIFUOac6I/AAAAAAAAAD8/PKubytnOeLk/S660/Copy%2B(3)%2Bof%2BPicture%2B004.jpg&imgrefurl=http://minggg.blogspot.com/2008/05/disappointed.html&h=528&w=660&sz=99&hl=en&start=34&um=1&usg=__I7S0iIqeUBhiC7Rl6UI4Am2DEw8=&tbnid=VsaPDI-_xq-R2M:&tbnh=110&tbnw=138&prev=/images%3Fq%3Ddisappointed%26start%3D18%26ndsp%3D18%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox%26rlz%3D1I7SUNA%26sa%3DN

Solitaire said...

@ Mamta,

I do.

sp0oO said...

Woah. Dont give up girl.
All the odds maybe against u but u can always even them out.

They can take away everything from u but the only things in your hands are your confidence , will and trust.Those are the things which only you can control and they are the key to your success.

You may feel that you have come up with a logical argument : that even a strong willed person can break and you cant fight forever. Even though I wont agree with them I wont argue them. But I feel what you are trying to do is only a dignified way of giving up .

If you do that than u dont have anyone to blame. I am not asking u to be happy and cheerful. I am only asking you to try it out with a positive attitude. Even though it may seem insanely stupid to u right now , I strongly believe that 'Life is fair'. Giving reasonable arguments to people who are trying to guide you wont be of any helf except a moments self satisfaction.

Just behave as if all this is happening so that u can have a great comeback story that people will talk about for years and go on with your life. If it still does not work come back and tell me and I will become a pesimisst.

loll spoo

Mamta said...

@spoo..
Thanks a lot for cheering me!

Samy said...

Hey Mamta,

Firstly thanks a lot for stopping by my blog. Felt glad to see someone outside my social network visit my blog and above all leave a comment - lol ... That truly is satisfying and morale boosting ... Well so now I wanted to return that favor of commenting back and what do I do - I make a visit to your blog - and BINGO !!! The very first post that I read here and find myself commenting upon was bang on target to refresh my memories at USC ... I don't know if you are gonna believe what I am gonna write further but - surprisingly its a fantastic co-incidence that when I read your post here, I felt that whatever you have written you must have just poured down my entire life in terms of the education stint. Truly amazing ...
Following are some of the points which I found to be so much similar to yours -
- My school did not have science stream either back in my home town, and I also had to shift to another school, wherein I had to request a lot of influence to save up the donation money.
- Thereafter I scored poorly during my 12th grade exams, and to get into engineering I again had to use a lot of high level influence to study from the # 1 institute of my city.
- During my undergrad there, I was also becoming aware of my responsibility and thus worked hard and had a decent academic result at the end of 4 years.
- Thereafter me too just like you landed up at USC after getting the visa, and where I would being the 2-3 splendid years of my life.
- But as you said, the 3.0 GPA system soon caught up with me, and I found myself struggling with studies, going in and out of professors cabins trying all means to get to 3.0.
- And finally after I did manage to get a 3.0 to graduate (41 credits later, as compared to the 27 required) I was still stuck up in the job hunt scenario.

BUT BUT BUT, the job hunt well, found a job, and am here in the bay area (silicon valley) since then ...

Having looked back at all those USC struggling days and those moments - I have only one thing to quote - "USC Trojans really have the FIGHT ON Spirit within them" !!!

Cheers ...
(PS: Phew I almost wrote a whole post here as my first comment - I know you are gonna regret coming to my blog lol and inviting me to comment on your blog lol ..)

Tc. Keep writing, keep visiting and keep commenting ...

Samkit

Mamta said...

@ Samkit
Hey ! Thanks a lot for that lovely comment. Well it was a morale booster for me too. Since i realised its not just me who has been struggling. Many people have struggled a similar path before me and been successful so Y not me! Well I am a true trojan .. and I will FIGHT ON!

mohak mehta said...

u just need to look at ur earlier comment...
"life gave me another chance"...
come on yaar... even ur blog title...
its sometimes curvaceous and sometimes its flat...
u just got to live out the barren part [:)] !!
i m sure , some1 of ur calibre and dedication is destined to something superior then maybe even what u can see rt now...
DONT despair yaar...

iYoda said...

Hi!
just chanced by your blog somehow and found it really great!!
Do keep writing!!
Somehow I feel that the emotions of people, however remotely located, sometimes do match.....
It's like everyone everywhere is 'connected'!!

iYoda said...

hold on!!!
I feel the face is familiar- are you an Amrit Jyoti student??

Mamta said...

@Kaushal..
Firstly, Thanks for leaving a comment on my blog and do keep coming often.
And then ..
Yup that is very true! So many things match up in so many different and diverse individuals..
And that I realised as I started writing the blog.
and BTW yeaa I am an Amrit Jyoti student...

Nikhil said...

Nice blog..

As you had written urself Fight on which means Fight on (and on) and not fight on as stop, Also you are too focused on the expectations, achievements and failure. Is good to have goals but as your title depicted is the road curvaceous or flat all depends on how short you see your journey to be ?