If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”* - Rudyard Kipling(Poem Íf)
That about sums up any individual’s determination against odds. I have a story to tell, readers, and how. This concerns my nephew and the odds which turned in his favour.
At the age of 16, he lost his parents in an accident and being the sole survivor, didn’t really know focus. At that time, I had to step in and mandated that he had to complete his 12th board exams. Understandably, his loss of focus during this critical juncture of college resulted in his getting way below his normal performance; however, his percentage was in the 80s. Now all of you must know that 80s nowadays ain’t enough, but he deservedly got it, despite the setback in his personal life.
Pushing him to engineering was easier than we thought and while there are benefits to putting a student to undergo hostel life, there are also some quirks associated to it. I guess he must have had his ‘’colourful’’ story to present, but at the end of it, he was unfocused, and got the average 70% which was the bare minimum for distinction. Now, let me tell you here, that the guy was rock solid in education throughout school academics till the point of his personal tragedy. I understand, it can also get tough to stay focused without the right guidance during college. And it doesn’t really work for uncles and aunts to butt in too much, it can be seen as too interfering. We can only hope to justify our decisions answering our own conscience and hope for the best.
He was floundering for over a year looking for job and he really was unsure of whether to go abroad for higher education or join a job immediately. I didn’t put any pressure, being afraid that my pressure might push him to take a wrong decision. I then sent him across to a seminar held at IIHT Rajajinagar. The reasoning mentioned during the seminar, ‘What is the purpose you have aspired for? As a child you had so many dreams of becoming a doctor, a rocket scientist, a pilot. What happened to those dreams? What made you go away from those dreams? Did you work towards your dreams? Or did you change your dreams to set more realistic targets?’
That was the gist from what I can remember my nephew telling me. My nephew was quite impressed. Now I know a marketing trick. But good counselling with minimal marketing is something even I was impressed. The institute counsellor was more direct at the end of the seminar, ‘’You have spent 22 years of your years educating yourself for the right job. Just give us another 3 months of your time and we will ensure you get the right job.”
I was more interested to see that my nephew was more focussed and able to come back from the seminar with the right perspective. I enrolled him immediately for a course at IIHT, Rajajinagar. The fees were higher at this institute compared to the others, like Jetking.
There were some modules my nephew was mentioning that he was not comfortable with. But the institute guaranteed the 100% knowledge transfer by putting him into multiple batches at no extra cost. This definitely helped him in his Linux skills and he considers himself an expert in network operating systems.
He also started teaching at the institute as a part-time trainer to enhance his skills which really must have helped.
The New Year saw us pack him off to Switzerland for his new contract role at Infosys, Basel, Switzerland in his new role.The events leading to his planned migration has been a surprise even to me. I was thinking that he must be looking to settle down here and should be able to ramp up from his job as a trainer, but he was more focussed in completing his masters. Students usually apply for a student Visa to study abroad, but he got the right break too and will enrol at the University after a couple of months on his current job. I guess, some events at the institute helped him shape up. He still speaks of the institute as a turning point for him.
Thank you, IIHT Rajajinagar. I guess at least in the case of my nephew, your institute truly made a difference.