Life After Not Making it to Your Dream College

This article has been submitted by Rohit Sharma 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 started preparing for CLAT in the 11^th standard. Actually, I never wanted to come to the field of law but what happened to me can be described by a famous quote, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” I left my preparation for the IIT entrance exams and joined a CLAT coaching institute. Despite being in a batch of people who had taken a drop year, I was one among the few bright students throughout my 11^th grade.  In Class 12^th, I used to be in the top 10 All India Ranks in mocks and teachers from my coaching institute were very excited, anticipating that the centre will break all the records because they were pretty sure that I would secure an All India Rank under 10. Then the big day (10 May 2015) arrived and after seeing the CLAT 2015 paper, I went into a panic mode and several thoughts started coming to my mind – right from “I will not get any NLU” to “How will my parents and people from coaching will react?” After coming out of the CLAT centre, I called my teacher who used to teach us the Logical Reasoning section and said, “Sir, main drop lene wala hoon…” and I started crying on the phone. Here, I would give one crucial tip to future CLAT aspirants: Only person who can motivate you to do well is you. Motivational movies, motivational persons and motivational quotes are nothing but a bridge to find warmth within you. After 10 days, the CLAT results were out and I had secured AIR 205. I spent the whole night lamenting that I won’t be able to get into NLSIU (the dream college) with this rank.

My coaching faculty reacted in a way that  my CLAT rank wasn’t good enough for any NLU. Seeing this, my heart sunk and then I called a senior from NUJS saying that I am anticipating that I would get NUJS in all probability. Even he was shocked to know my rank as he had expected that I would get NLSIU.

I am writing this blog for all the CLAT aspirants so that they know what is hope, what is expectation and what it feels like to be depressed even when you are your city’s topper? One thing I learned in this journey was to grab the best thing from your fellow mates. For instance, whenever I would help my friends with Mathematics, people used to criticize me for helping my competitors. Right from the first step of our education we are taught that, if we want to see ourselves as a winner, we need to outsmart everyone. However, I think that this whole ideology is faulty! Everyone has dreams and looks for help if he/she is facing problems. You can be a better winner and also a better human being when you help them out. Cut-throat competition is not necessary and it is not even healthy. Let me give you an analogy to prove this. 10 people are fighting for a piece of chapati. Everyone is oblivious, in this case, that there are other eatables available or 9 more chapatis could be made if they work together. Ego is nothing but a phenomenon restricting your growth.

If you are not getting any college, just remember, life doesn’t end here and the show must go on… Failure doesn’t decide your fate; it makes you strong enough to come to a point where you can simply believe that life has better plans for you than this. If you have self-motivation and your inner voice tells you that, “Boss! CLAT isn’t such a hard nut to crack!”, then you can easily get through it.  You will kill it! One thing I realized after joining NUJS is that, if you will compare yourself with others, you will end your talent with your own inferiority complex. If you did not get a decent rank or college that doesn’t mean that it is the end of life. Maybe you don’t know yet that this was never your field or that you came upon it for the sake of your friends, family or pressure of being compared to your siblings. Give your life the best shot so that later, you do not regret it! I haven’t cleared CLAT just because of me. Life is way above getting through CLAT – it is a mixture of experiences. There are many examples of people in my college who have come from humble backgrounds. They lacked proper coaching and faced financial problems but there was a zeal to achieve the best by putting constant efforts. I don’t intend to give a lecture here. I just want you to face all your obstacles in life. Not clearing CLAT is just a phase and the sun-rays of a new day will come soon. It’s upon you to choose whether you want to go out to see the sunlight or stay in the darkness, crying over your past. Because I love next phase after I failed to get NLSIU and I’m sure you will love your next phase too. The mistakes that you committed in this exam are the proof of your constant efforts which will lead to your success in life. Learning is a continuing process. Whether it is NLSIU or any other college – at the end, it is you, your talent and at last, your knowledge which matters to become a great person and to make your identity in the world. All the best.

Lastly, I would request you to approach situations as I have described in the poem I’ve written:

आंधी आये तूफान आये,

ये कदम नहीं उखड़ेंगे ,

जो हितेषी बनते थे ,

वो मेरे साथ न चलेंगे,

आशावादी सोच के साथ,

फिर से उठ खड़ा होंगे मैँ

All the best!