Many a times I come across Twitter posts which ask -

What would you advice your younger self?

I was very good at academics and when I enrolled into the university for my under graduate studies I knew that I would definitely crack the campus recruitment and would be placed in a company with handsome salary. But 11 years ago, in 2009, there was a global recession and things didn’t go as planned with me in securing a job.

I still remember that day; the first company which came for campus placement was TCS. I was shocked to find out that I hadn’t cleared the aptitude test.

This was the first failure in my life.

Although I used to actively participate in extra curriculars since my school days, I did lose quite a few competitions but that was all in a sportive mood and my life wasn’t hanging around those failures.

I cried profusely that day after the first failed campus placement results. I was hopeful that I would make it to the next company but this kept happening couple more times and I had no clue about what was going wrong. I gave up after a few attempts.

I felt like I needed a break after studying all those years so hard and not being able to find my dream job.

That year, I took up a teaching job and for the next two years I worked as a Lecturer in Computer Science at an engineering college. I was happy, some of my colleagues were my best friends.

Alongside teaching I took up some freelance web development work and I realised that I was ready for newer challenges. In 2011, I quit the teaching job and joined as a full time Software Engineer and rest is history.

I have worked hard all through these years and if there’s any advice I could give my younger self then that is -

Everything happens for good. You will never realise at that point of time, so instead of being sad when things don’t turn your way try to find the positive side of things and keep working hard. There comes a time when all the hard work will be worth it and you will realise for yourself that everything does happen for good.

The following quote from Dr. Abdul Kalam is my all time favorite.

Dream is not what you get in sleep, Dream is what makes you lose your sleep!