Hello Mr. panic button , I know… I know It’s a crazy critical time right now. Everybody has always made such a big deal about 10th ke boards and 12th ke boards that the results feel like an even bigger deal than it honestly is. But don’t you worry I am here now.

I understand that getting lower marks than expected can hurt. Especially when you worked hard and imagined a completely different result. It’s okay to feel disappointed. You don’t have to immediately become some enlightened baba going, “One sheet of paper does not decide my future.” But for now, give yourself a couple days to accept the result. You can mope, eat junk food, cry to MITSKI or Arijit depending on your music taste. But after that, we move. 

Once you have dealt with and accepted your own feelings, it is time for the next step. Talking to your parents. Yes thoda scary hai but sometimes thanks to our overactive imagination, we overthink things into something that is not even real. Maybe your parents do not think it is that big of a deal but their silence has made you think of a whole other storytime where they are on the phone with every single relative doing a full rona-dhona session about where it all went wrong.

So the second step is to stop assuming. You live in the same house as them, get up, get out of the room and go talk to your parents. And go in there with zero expectations. They might be happy, they might be sad or they might start with ‘We are not angry, just disappointed,’ which honestly is a whole other horror movie. Deal with it once you know how they actually feel. Sitting in your room manifesting a different marksheet is not going to work, trust me, we all tried.

And if they do get upset, let them. Do not argue, do not explain yourself for forty five minutes, just listen. You can have a conversation once everyone has had chai and calmed down.

Now back to you. First things first, please check your options before panicking. Or better yet, just check your options and completely cancel the panic. Cut-offs shift every year, waiting lists move, and honestly there is a whole other universe of good colleges and courses that you might not have reached yet. So do your research. You will surprise yourself.

Also if something on your marksheet genuinely does not add up, you can apply for re-checking or re-evaluation. Half of the stress is not even the marks. It is the fear that someone will go, ‘AcHaAaA you think the teacher made a mistake?’ but do not let this one slip just because you’re afraid of the chaar log kya kahenge.

And if you are thinking about entrance exams, gap years, switching streams, moving to the mountains and becoming a photographer or literally any other path or even if you are confused about what to do next, talk to someone who has actually been through it. A senior, a counsellor, a cousin, just someone real. There are way more options than the three everyone keeps talking about. We all know what three I am talking about.

One last thing and I promise I will stop. Put your phone down. Your mental health does not need to hear ‘Guys I barely studied’ from someone who solved 14 sample papers for fun.

You are going to be fine. Now go drink some water, have that conversation with your parents, and take the next small step. One thing at a time.

Dear Diary,

The past few years have been very tough for me, because of one wrong decision I took four years ago – choosing science as my stream!

As a child in middle school, I was always pretty confused as to what stream I should choose or what I really wanted to do in my life. For those of us with the ICSE board, it’s even tougher, having to make this choice in class 9!  

Hall of shame

Wherever I went, everyone just asked me the same question: “What stream would you choose? What do you want to become?” I never settled on a single answer whenever someone asked about my future aspirations. Astronaut, doctor, teacher, actor—the responses varied each time. 

Many times, I would simply say that I haven’t decided yet, and because of that, many thought that I wasn’t ambitious in life.

One incident is still etched on my memory. Our principal came to our class one day and started asking each of us what we wanted to do after school.

At that point, I had no idea, so I was just listening to my classmates’ answers. Some said they wanted to be engineers, some wanted to be athletes, and it went on.

Finally, it was my turn. I stood up and said, “Ma’am, I haven’t decided yet.” Let me tell you, the looks I got from my classmates that day were something else. I felt pretty embarrassed.

Stuck in the family way

The pressure only intensified as class 9 admissions came upon my head. I had to make a choice. With a family full of engineers and doctors, everyone expected me to follow the same path and I ended up with Science. 

I figured out pretty quickly that this wasn’t my thing. But I never had the courage or clarity to speak to my parents about this.

Whenever I would think about talking to my parents, about how I am not interested in pursuing Science and do not want to make it my future, I get stuck on the question. “If not this, then what?”

And that’s how I ended up in Class 12, still with science, still struggling. 

What next?

So I have finally given this a lot of thought and guess what, I finally have my answer. I would pursue law after school.  And I even talked to my parents about it. 

They are still not convinced that there could be a valid career path outside of engineering but I’m working on it. 

Live in the present

But here’s what I have understood in this journey. it’s totally okay not to have your whole future figured out, even if people give you strange looks. Many folks end up switching careers for various reasons. I understand them well now. 

Sometimes, it’s because our parents push us into a field we’re not really interested in, and later on, we realize it’s not making us happy. So, we need to take time to figure it out. Our path doesn’t have to be set in stone just yet.

So, here’s my message to everyone including myself: Let’s take time to ponder what really counts in life. It’s our journey, and the choices we make should be for ourselves, even if they don’t always lead us down the perfect path. It’s okay to make mistakes too. 

I am not sure if I will be a lawyer one day or follow another path a few years down the line. Whatever the future is, I am ready for it as I am making my own choices. 

Names have been changed. This article has been authored by a member of our TeenBook Advisory Board (TAB). To learn more about what TAB is and how to join, please click here. 

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