“A decision over a career, or more directly, a branch or stream, need not be driven by a passionate love at first sight. The paths leading to your ultimate goal(s) may be uncertain, therefore there is no need to be alarmed if your inner voice lacks clarity, according to Neeldhara Mishra.
My earliest exposure to the notion of being an engineer was in school through a popular clip called the “Knack” from the animated show Dilbert. In it, a doctor is diagnosing a kid with a condition involving extreme intuition for all things mechanical and electrical. It is implied that having the knack is not compatible with a normal life, with the kid now destined to “be an engineer”. This causes his mother to experience much concern and grief. This inspired me to keep a polite but firm distance from all things engineering, conveniently including the entrance exams meant to unlock the gates of the IITs.
Now, let’s get to the present context. College admissions are rife with two types of scenarios that are less than ideal: students ending up in programs that are not their cup of tea, and students missing out on experiences that would have been right up their alley. These mismatches are cumulatively expensive: there is the price paid in misallocated resources. Consequently, there is the personal cost of training for programmes that eventually turn out to be a poor fit.