A Science Failure, Kickstarter to remarkable life skills

I was lucky and privileged to be brought up by parents who promoted creativity, conversations, exploring one's identity and making mistakes now and then to learn about life. However, outside the four walls of our house, the environment was different, and expectations were very stereotypical.

Regarding my career, I was expected to become a doctor or a teacher because I was good at school. According to the 'people,' those were the only 'respectable' career options for 'women.' Yes, I know I have a lot of "___" in the last sentence - but I am making a point, so it's okay. I have high regard for these two professions, my mother was a teacher, and I have many accomplished doctors in my family - but I didn't see myself in those roles as the only career options for myself.

I did try to be in those professions - because, at that time, I felt this pressure that if I couldn't do anything in those - I would not be able to gain respect from anyone in the ‘society’. I was partially right to see people calling me a 'loser' or 'failure' when I couldn't get into medical school.

The next best option was anything in Science, (again under the pressure of 'society'), so I took college majors such as Botany, Zoology & Chemistry (I recommend everyone to please not hate yourself that much). I wanted to study media studies at that time. Unfortunately, there wasn't any suitable school and the ones that were offered courses were unaffordable for me.

Studying natural sciences was fun as long as I'd get my hands dirty dissecting animals and plants and doing those great chemical experiments. But, when it came to cramming notes for exams, I did the bare minimum because I had no interest in that as a career, and so I couldn't put my will to most of it. I also failed my Chemistry exam - and had to reappear in it to score passing marks. But that time certainly taught me that anything in a Natural Science major is not for me.

I took that route because of the inherent pressure from external factors - which I couldn't resist then. However, to spice things up in my academic pursuits and open more options, I enrolled in another college major during that time in a distance learning setup, Journalism and Mass Communication. Nobody knew about it except my parents and teachers, so it was easy not to worry about 'other' people's judgements on that decision. My logic was to give myself enough knowledge on the subject matter and become eligible for university majors that were more theoretical and contemporary communications-related specializations. Secondly, I found my solace in arts, writing, journalism and creativity to get over the dry days of my science lectures.

After graduating with double majors - I got into university for my Master's in International Relations, research major in digital diplomacy. I aced every course - because that was something I felt joy learning and could see myself applying professionally.

Nevertheless, I learned so much from science courses while my science failure was apparent:

that’s how I enjoy - every time I live on my own terms

One of the most considerable skills was skimming through complicated reading - making inferences and conclusions because understanding scientific text required technicality and precision. Applying that to my social science text - which involves heavy philosophical research material - I could understand those efficiently. I could pick the central theme, making the rest of the reading easy to navigate. This helped me a lot during exams and later in my professional career, where I would do complicated policy analysis in minimal time and with tight deadlines.

I was also a science tutor and earned a good living every summer off from school. One thing that surprises people is that I was great as a science tutor rather than a student. This technically means that I did grasp well the concepts of my science education to be able to teach them, but because I had no interest in making it a lifelong career, I couldn't go through with it as a student. Or, it could be something to do with my brain - any thoughts? Or maybe I just didn't want it, and that reason is good enough.

Another excellent life skill I learned was to learn multiple things at a time and manage time efficiently. Because I took double majors - equally demanding- I learned to work under pressure and finish assignments within deadlines. So today, when I embark on multiple projects, it doesn't seem alien to me because my mind is being trained to manage various projects simultaneously - all producing efficient results.

Nothing you experience in your life is useless.

You can apply any lesson learned in some way to your current situation and make it your opportunity.

In addition to academic and professional learnings, due to my science background and participation in various Science related events and contests in school - I was awarded the Conservation Ambassador role by World Wildlife Fund (WWF), which again opened up many opportunities to network and learn from people.

The point is that nothing in your life goes useless - not even your failures or mistakes, and everything is a Kickstarter to a new life skill. My journey is just one example of it, and I am sure if you start looking for it, you will find it in your own life as well.

Next up - How I gained industry experience during school through Time management and Relationship management?