It’s the Other Way Round

This article has been submitted by Pranjal Jain for the CLATGyan Blog Post Writing Competition. If you think it’s a good read, ‘Like’ the article (the button is at the bottom of this piece) or post a comment using the ‘Comments’ section below.

I wrote this on 12^th May 2016 – the day the CLAT marks were announced. A friend called me at 6 am and he was feeling quiet low as he scored average marks in CLAT 2016. When we met, our whole conversation was monotonous with him asking the same questions over again.

“How could this happen?”
“Which college will I get?”
“What will I do if get lower NLUs?”

He was mainly concerned with the third question as he was reluctant in joining colleges lower than the tier-one colleges. Why? Because he had dropped a year and had been burning the candle at both ends just to get to the top law schools of the country. He, along with plenty other aspirants, believed that preparing for a competitive exam like CLAT is like running in a race. You encounter thorns on your way but the finish line, which is the ultimate goal of all the hard work, is getting a top-ranked university. After that, the road is clear and post five years, a high paying job is assumed to be guaranteed.

Let me get this straight. A National Law University does not define a student but a student himself defines his college. If you have worked very hard, it will benefit you in your life anywhere, even if once, but it will. A person who makes it to the best college would be of no good, if he isn’t performing well there. Don’t misunderstand the point that I am wanting to put across. I am not saying that the preparation time put in for CLAT is never fruitful. The more you sweat in practice, the less you bleed in the battle. If you have prepared well, you are probably going to perform better in your college life ahead. Good students make up a good batch and a good batch make up a good college. I’m not denying the fact that students who secure the top ranks are undoubtedly excellent. But what needs to be drilled into our minds is that just because the remaining people don’t make it to the top doesn’t mean they are not excellent.

A person in a lower NLU sometimes does way better than his fellow colleagues in other top colleges. It’s all just a matter of hard work. It is true that good NLUs have more exposure, events and competitions. But it is also true that not all students take part in such events. Getting ten such opportunities and missing out on all versus getting five opportunities and grabbing them all. The choice is yours to make. Students are like pages in a book and that is how a NLU becomes a book. A book can never be judged by its cover and what is of worth are the pages. Even one page of the book can turn it into an extraordinary piece of work.

After brooding, I replied to my friend, “Do you know why this happened? Because in a competitive exam like CLAT, every student doesn’t get what he deserves. Coming to your second question, I think you will definitely get a decent college. Your third question would only have one answer – relax, go there and prove yourself. Take all the opportunities and be the best in what you do. A college is more than just an institution of learning. Explore new things and make the most of your life in a NLU.