As a college undergraduate in India, you enter your most youthful age with either profound confusion or the feeling of being directionless. You have just come out the tough and ruthless world of coaching, boards and cut throat competition. The sight of a crowd now terrifies you, so many people competing for so little, in every sphere of life. But then, you realize that this world is not that bad after all. Everyone here is as clueless as you are.
However, this system has taken a toll on you, you have now become a follower of societal restrictions, you are a part of the system, the rebellion has died. While this brings discipline, it also takes the factors of wonder and risk from your life. You don’t innovate, you only study what is in your field, you have lost your power to communicate your ideas, to speak your mind confidently in front of a crowd. This may result in better grades, but not in better skills. According to a study, only 7% engineers in India are employable. They have a degree but cannot create anything of value. They can solve equations but not provide solutions to practical problems. They can run instruments that they learnt in labs, but not use them to make the world around them better.
You spend your nights in dorm rooms confused about what you want in life, you want to follow your ‘passion’ but don’t know what to do for it, you somehow yearn for guidance, not the inspirational stuff given by family elders, but from someone who has been through all of this, who comes to you and tells you,’Hey, what you feel is normal, don’t be afraid, this world has space for people like you and me.’ They may not show you the exact path, but will at least tell you how to identify the right one.
The thing you need at this stage in life is being brave, taking risks and to thinking beyond your conventional wisdom. To make yourself productive, you need to sharpen your skills, and in the current scenario, the field that is most important today is technology.
Technology is not something to be terrified of, the software is not written in an alien language, but in a framework of simple notations. Estonia, a country in Eastern Europe has made IT education compulsory for all. Rapid innovations in electronics are happening in the Silicon Valley.
Yet, the biggest hurdle stopping engineers are broadly two points – lack of funds, and lack of guidance/mentorship. To solve this, AcadView, a company that is working to solve the problem of unemployability among higher education graduates through virtual internships, training, and mentorships, has come out with a scholarship program called AcadView Scholarship that aims to provide professional guidance and financial aid to meritorious students. They can seek counselling support from Ankit Bhati, co-founder and CTO – Ola, also an alumnus of IIT Bombay, in addition to a cash reward of ₹10,000.
According to Varun Jain, and co-founder of AcadView, “The student needs to realize that it is not that difficult to learn and make a career in technology, it is not mandatory that you have a CS background. You need to find your area of interest and pursue it with an absolute madness.”
Answer a few questions and you could earn a chance to alter your career in a positive way. While academic score will be considered it is not the only criteria, AcadView is looking for students who are true all-rounders, students with excellent communication skills, problem-solving acumen and inquisitiveness will be recognized.
So smile, be proud of what you have achieved till now, be hopeful for what you can do, go out and take what could be yours. Remember, you are no less than your classmates who you outsmarted you in the past, you have the right to be as successful and you deserve it.
As Himanshu Batra, founder of AcadView says, “According to me, each student is like a startup, you study and grow up to find your way in the big bad world.”