Me to 15-year-old me:

More than half of you wants to study because the world out there is waiting for your 90 percent marksheet. Well, you know what? Heck with the world and the marksheet. You've got absolutely nothing to prove. Study and score because YOU want to be happy about it when you see your score! Study because YOU want to get that feeling of accomplishment! Not because they want to see a 90. Tell them to give the damn boards to get their own 90


This was just an expression of how badly I want you to understand that what people think, doesn't matter. Because they expected me to get a 90 in my 10th and I got an 80 and my teachers never even celebrated that I got an 80! Then I saw my teacher congratulating a student who got a 70 something who was apparently "not so smart" in their eyes. They came and told me "I expected more from you, Archana" and I was like, welI, heck with you. I got an 80 even after studying just for just a month! Damn, I am supergirl to do that :P That too along with all sorts of extra curricular activities.

When I was in my 10th grade, I was involved with all sorts of activities in school. I had that "it's your last year in school, make the most if it" feeling. So I joined the dodge ball team, the dance crew and everything. Also, I used to enjoy biology and chemistry in class. Because of which I used to be interactive during the lectures. Which got my teachers to think that I study 8 hours a day and that I'm going to score a 90 in my boards. But the truth was, I was busy doing so so many other things. And trust me, I don't regret that. So anyway, the teachers were expecting a lot more from me. At that point of time the 15 year old me was under a lot of pressure. I was scared. I knew I won't be able to score well because I was into other things. I started studying a month before my boards were going to start, and all of the other students had finished revising the 3rd time! At that time my brother tried explaining to me that it was a better decision to make the most of my last year in school. I didn't understand any of this back then. But now I know I did the right thing. And it gave me strength to get over this marksheet. But I got over it.


I've learnt. Your school grades don't define you. They don't define your intelligence. All that matters is what YOU want to do in life and what you like doing. Try doing something you're passionate about, and I assure you, you'll be willing enough to work on it, be good at it, and not care about what others think. You'll do it for YOU. And that is what matters.