Rajat Grover

I watched the mirror as I suited up for my graduation and remembered the words my father told me when I turned 18, “Nothing good comes easy. It requires tenacity, capability and perseverance.” I found those words vague back then. But today, after all that I have achieved, when I peruse my growth in seven years, I understand how meaningful those words were. As I implemented my life’s very first business model of doing class projects to students at my school in the eleventh standard, I comprehended that I wanted to be different from the league and conveniently escaped the idea of a regular occupation. The first challenge I faced was after school, when I wanted to be a Computer Science engineer but my father wanted to me get into Mechanical. I had to select mechanical as my major. Subsequently, I failed a lot of subjects throughout my bachelor’s. After proving myself a complete failure, having faced immense criticism from acquaintances and family, in the final year I realised it was high time I began taking my degree seriously. With the kind guidance of my professors, I was able to clear my final year examinations.

My mentor, Mr. Ankit Khurana, was the Project Director of Aautosync Innovations. He advised me to find internships in Germany. My family despised the idea of me moving to a unaccustomed country. Few months later I was interning in Chemnitz, Germany. My friends back home felt I was living the dream; I, however, had struggles of my own. Thoughts like how I would survive in a country on my own, barely able to cope with the accent, a brand-new environment with an unfamiliar field of work, being surrounded by strangers 24 x 7, provoked in me all the time. I gradually embraced the bizarreness and found myself settling comfortably as weeks passed by. New friends, diversified cultures, various cuisines were like an adventure every day! I was encouraged to learn new software which further proved quite beneficial in order to pursue a master’s. Coming from a middle class group, I found it hard to dream of getting an education abroad. Fortunately, scholarships made those dreams appear feasible.

I got selected for the programme of MSc in Advanced Engineering Management at the University of Birmingham. With the experience I had in Germany, it was easy for me to adjust to the new atmosphere. I slowly started discovering the pool of opportunities I had as a student and made use of all the resources from availing free meals to getting discounts to accessing the excellently equipped library. I was elected the International Student Representative (Guild Policy Development Group) of my University and hence worked part-time, which in return added to my experience in communication and also enabled me to self-fund for my expenses. I made the most of being abroad and travelled as much as I could; this uplifted my knowledge and exposure. A year later, I am now entering the professional world as a graduate and am seeking jobs worldwide. Seven years earlier I was oblivious of my capabilities. Both Chitkara University and the University of Birmingham enlightened me with my passions and I emphatic that to succeed, it is crucial for every individual to explore and experience.