When we were kids, many of us envied the nerdy short guy with spectacle or the frail looking girl who always sat on the first bench. The sole reason behind this was that maybe most of us failed to fathom the technique they used to outscore us in exams. As you could tell not all of the stereotypical nerdy class toppers weren't really up there in the looks department. More often than not, we used to comfort ourselves and/or each other by saying that they manage to beat us only due to their memory power and mugging skills. Half true..

Enter 11th grade, no uniforms, no rules on regularly attending lecture and more freedom. Many of us would have thought that the 11th and the 12th would give us a chance to hone our intellectual skills and once and for all, prove to everybody that you are no average Joe. But that did not happen in my case, except for a stray compliment or two by a Physics professor who didn't even know my name.

This trend followed in Engineering college, where I'm constantly trying to take some time out from hanging out with friends and whatsapping to study for finals. And the nerdy folk continue to do that exact opposite and make my marks look like the grades a primate would have scored had he written my exams. When friends or family ask us about how we end up scoring so low in comparison to others, we still shamelessly bank on the fact that in future, we would know how to work or run an organization better than people who found their way into an MNC merely by answering through rote. Irony is, they probably outscored us in Financial Management too! If you were one such topper, good for you. I bet you're doing well for yourself and have your sights set on securing a job you desire. No offence, but if you're good looking too, even better, you're a rare breed, I'll give that to you! No umbrage intended, moving on, I personally was an above average student till my Engineering after which I became let's say..average enough to get through without having to drop an year.

Before I go on with any of my reminiscing crap, you might have understood for certain that people generally tend to make themselves feel better by hoping they'll do better than others in due course of time. In Bill Gate's case, he knew he was going to, whereas in my case even after securing a stable job which would be enough to make my parents sigh in relief that their vagabond son is finally earning, I would loathe the fact that I could have well been in a position better or similar to that of the very same person who I shared forced grins with just to keep my job.

For those who manage to still remain hopelessly optimistic, good for you and for those who just embrace their predicament, you have every reason to. Truth is, there is no substitute for hard work. If you are lucky enough to be blessed with great retention power, you will have to memorize something to remember it in the first place.
They say studying abroad or doing an MBA is a transition from the monotonous by heart routine to a space where you truly emerge as the person within you who always wanted to stand out and be appreciated for what he loves doing. Well, it probably isn't. There is no definite transition. There's either a period where you get serious about what you want to do or you were consistent throughout.

Whenever you're in shambles, and you're academic graph resembles a backslash, there is usually someone to comfort you and tell you 'It's never too late' which is by all means true but what makes more sense to me is in my opinion the mantra by which all Engineering students should swear by 'It's never too early to start'. Sadly though, my plight only allows to type these words and preach. If you asked Bill Gates what he did right, he'd say his only right was 'doing nothing wrong'