My Story: ‘You Don’t Require A Degree To Become Successful, Inheriting Skills Help You To Achieve Goals’

The season of exams are on and hundreds of students who wrote them and their anxious parents will be evaluating the results with mixed emotions, some elated and some disappointed. Exams are a stepping stone to a potential career but they do not completely decide your life. #MoreThanMarks is a campaign by The Logical Indian to bring out real-life stories of ordinary people who became successful despite their marks and to stress on the fact that you can be successful and lead a happy life even if you are/were not an academic topper.

As I remember, I was always an average student throughout my life. I studied enough to just pass the exam. I always knew that I was a creative person, but I always felt that I hadn’t found my blank canvas until 20 and was still looking for that one true calling. Till class 7, I was studying in a premium English medium residential school. However, after my father’s business shrunk, I had to join a government school. The switch was hard for me as in the government school everything was taught in Kannada, and I did not even know how to write in Kannada. I went into depression, but later on, managed to pull myself out of it.

I always wanted to be independent and never believed in the education system. The moment I passed my class 10 boards which my parents believed I would not clear, I wanted to try something else. My stepmother and father asked me to join diploma classes in mechanical engineering. I opposed it and believed that the time has come to become independent. I was 17 when I went to another town to seek a job, without a single penny in my pocket. All I knew was that I would have to look for a job and meet my month’s need. After knocking on several doors, a hotel manager was kind enough to hire me as a waiter. He also gave me shelter in the hotel. This town was almost 200 odd Kilometers from my hometown, so my parents never knew where I was.

However, after a month’s work, I contacted my father to inform how I loathed the idea of joining diploma classes and would not return home any time soon. I worked hard for two years trying to find the meaning of my life. One day, one of my acquaintances who used to work in a garage just opposite to the hotel where I worked, suggested me to join an animation school. After his suggestion, I checked some of the animation institutes in Bengaluru and followed their work. There was a new spark of interest in me and I felt that this was the blank canvas that I was seeking throughout my life. I checked the fees of these institutes. I used all my savings and pleaded my parents to support this decision. Surprisingly they were happy to see their son being passionate and keen to learn something.

It was in 2016 that I stepped in Bangalore for the first time and got myself enrolled in an animation and VFX course. During my eight-month course, I felt that there was so much to learn in this world. I was elated as well as positively overwhelmed after every day’s class, as I learned something new, unlike my previous job. I started watching more animated videos, started appreciating the edits, and cinematography in the western films. After the course, my struggle to find my second job commenced, however this time I was confident and believed in my abilities. Finally, after 4-5 interviews, I got a job as a video producer for a media organisation. I have been working here for more than 1.5 years, and I am happy. Now I know that if you have inherited skills, then you do not require education. It is through my personal experience that I have learnt this hard truth.

You can share these real-life stories of people who are eventually successful despite academic failures and struggles with anyone you know may get motivated learning about it.

Went back memory lane? Want to share your story, write to us at [email protected], remember to hashtag #MoreThanMarks.