I never said I was, but I wrongly believed that I was an “above average” student for a long time. I finally realized that high-school education in India might not be the as practical and hands on as in other countries, but it does give you a view of reality.

Here’s what happened. I registered for an All India Test Series in FIITJEE to see where I stand as far as my competition preparations were concerned. I had worked pretty hard on physics (mechanics, mostly) and maths. I even knew a thing or two about chemistry. As I was a firm believer in the fact that I was supposedly a very intelligent person, and could solve any question the AITS presented me, I decided to simply have fun on the day before the test, thinking I had practiced enough. Wrong decision. I could barely solve 1/4th of the AITS paper, and made a guess in most of those questions, too.

But that is not the point. The point is that several other kids, whom I had assumed to be less intelligent, were able to solve more of the paper than me. For two days I felt like shit. Now I’m working my ass off so that I can get a decent score in the next AITS.

Overconfidence kills. “DON’T PANIC” is a lie. To get anywhere in life, I suppose I must assume that I suck and then try not to suck so much.

The road to college is long and hard back here in India, but it’s full of discoveries like this. If I had decided to just sit around at home and keep preparing for the competitive exams on my own, I would definitely have failed. Now I stand a chance. It’s a one-in-million chance, but hey, I might just turn out to be the lucky one.

I need that golden ticket.