Growing Up and Changing Goals

I’ve always wondered what growing up actually feels like.

As a kid, I used to think that someday I’d be able to buy an entire departmental store and eat as many chocolates as I wanted. Life was better back then.

Pic Courtesy- Medium

During adolescence, I played a lot of sports. I explored almost every sport possible for me cricket, football, gymnastics, badminton, swimming, chess, basketball, and many more. I aspired to make a career in at least one of them. Little did I know that I was heading toward becoming a jack of all trades, master of none. But having that kind of mindset is a good thing, right? Well, yes partially. During all that time, I still didn’t know what my long-term goals were, and maybe that’s okay to a certain extent because that’s the only phase of life where you truly get to explore as much as possible.

But while all of this was happening, I completely neglected my studies. Yes, I used to score great marks, probably among the highest in my class, but deep down, I knew what I was capable of and exactly what I was doing wrong. I would study only a few weeks before exams, just like most students do, without realizing that this habit of not studying consistently would come back to haunt me in the near future. Nevertheless, I completed my 10th grade with flying colors, still without knowing what my ultimate goal was.

Then came the most decisive phase of my academic life — JEE preparation.

For the first time in my life, I had a clear goal: getting into the best engineering institutes in India, the IITs. I enrolled in a dummy school where I didn’t have to attend classes every day, giving me plenty of time for self-study. But remember that habit of not studying consistently? Yeah, it cost me two whole years. I scored fairly average marks in my 12th board exams, and my JEE score… well, let’s just say it isn’t even worth sharing.

I decided to take a drop year, and my goal remained the same. This time, reality had already hit me hard. I knew self-study was the only way to achieve my dream, so I moved to Kota, Rajasthan, and enrolled in one of the biggest coaching institutes in the country, hoping to find a great peer group.

During the first month, I studied harder than I ever had before. My goal was crystal clear: get into any IIT. But gradually, my study hours started decreasing, and my mock test scores dropped even faster. I fell into depression. There were countless nights when I couldn’t sleep. By the time I had partially recovered, it was already too late. I realized that the goal I had set for myself was no longer achievable.

So I shifted my focus to my state-level engineering entrance exam, MHT-CET. Fortunately, I scored well enough to secure admission into one of the top engineering colleges in Maharashtra. But it wasn’t an IIT. I was devastated, and moving on wasn’t easy. But that’s life, you eventually have to.

This made me think for a while.

Aren’t I the same Abhijeet who once dreamed of owning a departmental store and eating as many chocolates as he wanted? Aren’t I the same person who once wanted to build a career in sports? Aren’t I the same kid who didn’t have any goals beyond those simple dreams?

Looking back, I realize that I have grown a lot. But somewhere along the way, I forgot to enjoy the moments that truly deserved to be cherished. Today, I have just completed the sophomore year of my college life, and my goals have changed completely. But that’s a story for another day.

For now, I’ll leave you with one lesson I’ve learned so far:

“Happy moments are limited. Cherish them whenever you get the chance.”

Because life is both much simpler and much more complicated than people make it seem.