Tuesday, June 19, 2012

MOVING AWAY TO STUDY: Tips for Students and Parents


Determine What and Where first
EALLINA PRADHAN
For many young students who graduated from school this year, finding the right college is the next step. In today’s competitive world, a Bachelor’s degree is pursued with high hopes towards a better life and career. Living in the comfort of your home and being provided with all amenities, stepping out of that secured zone, especially to an unknown city does sound exciting but one has to be prepared. Stepping out to a city like Bangalore from Sikkim in the year 2005, was one of the best moves of my life as I owe a lot to the resources and opportunities available in a city like Bangalore, there are so many options one can choose from keeping in mind the budget as well as infrastructure of the colleges. Every day becomes a learning process and since some of the most valuable lessons in life are learned outside of the classroom, you discover a lot about yourself and the nitty-gritty of being an adult.
Here are a few tips I would like to share, to help you transition into your new, exciting yet unknown life even more smoothly.
First of all, you all have worked really hard and managed to score well in high school, do not overload yourself with anxiety regarding college admissions. You will have to think clearly now, so I hope you have taken time to go out and have fun.
Determine what you might like to study:
Understand why you’re going to college first, so you can make the most of your experience and be honest about it. It’s not just a competitive phase for students, but also for parents who are completely devoted in the race for the best, which is absolutely amazing as all parents, want the best for their children, the only thing to keep in your mind as a parent is let the children choose and keep in mind that your child’s future is not based on your colleague’s child who is a genius in science; your child might be a step ahead in literature instead. Please keep in mind you are looking at a leader not a follower. If you have some idea of a career or a major, that information can help in finding colleges that offer and even specialize in that field.
# Do you know what you are good at?
Determine where you want to live:
The next step is to pick a nice place you want to live for the next  four or five years and use the time as one of life’s transitions, learning to live on your own, expanding your circle of friends and experiences, for most teens, whose geographic exposure is limited, that alone can be a daunting thought. Do not rely only on word of mouth, go ahead and research the internet keeping in mind things like weather, languages spoken, connectivity in terms of transport system as well as medical facilities, living standard, keeping in mind your budget for food and accommodation. If you have family or friend who is from your local area, living in that specific city, they will be able to give you an insight on the standard of living, depending on which you can finalize the budget.
# Do you want to live close to home, or far away?
In the next article we will be discussing in brief which cities are most likely to give you the best platform for the course you choose.

[ABOUT THE WRITER:
Eallina Pradhan is the founder of “Innovate”. Innovate, she explains, is not just a company or an organization- it is a road to “Access” and “Guidance”. 
This is how she introduces Innovate:
“Having spent my last 9 years in Bangalore I realized that the admission process for our students of Sikkim has become a time-consuming, highly stressful process for both parents and students, keeping in mind the high donations and broker fees and the struggle with the local language and connectivity at first. Looking at these things always troubled me a great deal and was always keen to do something about it.
At Innovate, we are trying to educate people about the pros and cons involved in the process and guiding students to make a career choice as well as helping them evaluate the college they want to study in, while offering options keeping in mind the budget and career choice of the student.
Also making sure that we keep a tab of a students’ progress even after they start attending college as well and keep parents informed about their child’s progress, providing relief to parents while their children are away from home.
Providing guidance and admission with no service fees.”]

2 comments:

  1. also please move out of your little ghettos. socialise with people from elsewhere too. and stop calling people from the plains Indians. also those who are going to study medicine, remember your incompetence puts lives in danger.
    finally don't abuse cough syrups.
    and remember there are large number of institutes of dubious repute in the south. so DU would actually be the place that you should be making a beeline for. there are special quotas for sikkim students and STs and SCs and OBCs and what nots.
    but don't forget the content is the same for all. so if you are a dud who has managed to get 80% be some stroke of luck don't destroy your life taking something like Maths honours.

    ReplyDelete
  2. children from here do tend to get into a ghetto but what can one do......the people from the plains can be condescending and talk you down!!! and is it only the sikkimese med student who is incompetent and abuses cough syrup....so don't generalise....the serious one will in any case not do so.....and where exactly is the sikkim quota in the colleges in Delhi....they have all been nullified by the inactiions of the govt and student from here are mostly sent to the national institutes opened in Assam...thereby leading ghettoisation !!!!SC/ST quotas are there but the obc comes with the creamy layer rider of course unless u can hoodwink the system!!!

    ReplyDelete

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