Back in 10th grade, I had one dream — to get into IIT. I worked really hard and scored 80% in JEE Main (2020). That was during the COVID lockdown. Our board exams were about to end — just one last paper left — and then the government announced a sudden lockdown. Later, we wrote our PU exams. Since I got 80% in JEE, I considered taking a drop to try again. But I kept thinking, What if I don’t make it next time? So I joined a government diploma college in Computer Science, thinking it would be more affordable. During my 3rd and 4th semesters, I had college from 9 AM to 5 PM. After that, I used to prepare for JEE again, barely sleeping 4 hours a day —. It took a toll. I couldn’t balance both, and that’s when I came to know about GATE. During diploma, I stayed in a hostel where I met final-year B.Tech students from a reputed college. They were well-focused, motivated, and had strong placements. Some of them even landed jobs at companies like Mastercard, EY, etc. I looked up to them and thought — one day I’ll also be like them. But life had different plans. After completing diploma, I got into RV College for Electrical —. But it wasn’t in my hometown, and I was afraid I'd lose focus on GATE prep. So I stayed in my hometown and joined a local college in the ISE department. I worked hard again. But honestly, during my B.Tech, most of the students around me were very small-minded. None of them were serious about their career or future. Many just wanted to pass and leave — no passion, no ambition. It was hard to stay motivated in that environment. In my 3rd year, I qualified GATE — but the score wasn’t good enough to get into any IIT. So I decided to prepare again during my final year. But this time, I was mentally exhausted. I lacked consistency and unfortunately missed qualifying by just 1 mark —. My college had no real placements. The highest package was just 6 LPA, and the average was around 3 LPA. I didn’t get a good GATE score, and I didn’t get placed either. Every day, I feel like I made a mistake choosing this college. Most of my classmates got in through management quota, and here I am — still struggling, still hustling. From dreaming of IIT… To fighting through diploma… To qualifying GATE once… To missing it by 1 mark again… To watching placement opportunities slip away… Once a guy who dreamt big… is now struggling to get a job.