Laying emphasis on the importance of avoiding pressure in choosing uninterested career options, Deputy Commissioner Fouzia Taranum, Superintendent of Police Akshay M. Hakay and Assistant Superintendent of Police Bindu Mani R.N. unanimously advised students to pursue their passion and not what others desire of them while choosing academic courses or jobs.
Speaking at The Hindu Education Plus Career Counseling session at Poojya Doddappa Appa Sabha Bhavan at Sharnbasva University here on Sunday, the civil servants shared their own experiences with the young students and told them to find out their core competency and passion for making prudent decisions on their careers.
The officers also advised parents to respect and support their children’s decisions so that they can pursue their passionate courses and do their jobs joyfully.
“You should do what you love to do and not what others want you to do. Don’t fall into a trap by blindly following the suggestions of your friends and bending to the pressure of your parents while making career choices. I also appeal to parents to support their children’s decisions with unconditional love and respect so that they can enjoy their study as well as their jobs and lead a meaningful life,” Ms. Taranum said.
“Convert your passion into your profession. Today’s world is full of opportunities. It is the world of small-town heroes. Being born in a big city or into a reputed and influential family is not a precondition to achieving something big. There are hundreds of people who are born in ordinary families in villages and towns and yet have made remarkable achievements. What all you need is determination and the ability for hardwork,” Mr. Hakay added.
“You must have clarity on what you want to do. If you don’t have the clarity on certain things, go a little bit deep into them and get clarity. There will always be some confused people around us who will confuse us also. There will always be people around us who don’t have the clarity on things and yet they advise others on them. Keep away from them and their suggestions. Simply find out what you love to do and pursue it. There will always be a general gap between you and your parents. You differ from each other on courses and career options. Only thing to address is you have to be patient and your patients have to be open-minded,” Ms. Mani said.
Responding to a query during the interactive session, Ms. Taranum said that UPSC and KPSC are no longer benchmarks for success as there are hundreds of options that are equally important.
“No job is superior and no job is inferior. All jobs are important in their places. You can contribute to the country by doing any job of your interest. Live life to your full potential. If you choose an option of your interest and work hard, you can do more than what you are capable of doing. Get rid of the negative mindset and develop a positive approach. Don’t stop dreaming and aspiring, even after a few failures. If you keep on dreaming and working hard to realize them, you will gradually get confidence and support structures will automatically develop to translate your dreams into reality,” Ms. Taranum said.
Mr. Hakay strongly criticised the very thinking of channelising meritorious students to the science stream, average-performers to the commerce stream and poor-performers to the arts stream and called upon the stakeholders to break that conventional thinking.
“We are not getting good teachers and journalists these days as all the top academic performers go to medical and engineering streams and the leftovers are left to take up these jobs which are equally important,” he said.
The officers later answered a wide range of questions raised by the students and parents about the UPSC examination process and the important things to be taken care of during the preparation for the exams apart from the general career options available.
Regional Director of Visvesvaraya Technological University in Kalaburagi Baswaraj Gadgay spoke on the various options available in the engineering stream, while Visiting Professor at Basaveshwara Teaching and General Hospital, Kalaburagi, Shashank Ravindra Ramdurg gave valuable insights into the various branches of the medical stream.
UPSC exam coach and career counsellor from CIGMA Syed Sadath Pasha answered queries on important courses and career options other than medical and engineering streams. Senior grade lecturer at Government Polytechnic College in Kalaburagi Nagaraj M. guided the students on the various issues of the Common Entrance Test conducted by Karnataka Examination Authority, especially on the process of selecting courses and colleges online.
A former secretary of the Kalyana Karnataka Chamber of Commerce and Industry Sharanu Pappa was present.
Sponsors
Presidency University & REVA University were the platinum sponsors of the event and Gitam University, RV University, SRM University AP, Mahindra University, Hindustan Group of Institutions Chennai, Cambridge Institute of Technology and Ramaiah University of Applied Sciences were the gold sponsors.
The silver sponsors were Alliance University, Christ University, JSS Science & Technology University, JSS Academy of Higher Education & Research, Vidyavardhaka College of Engineering, Indian Institute of Fashion Technology, Soundarya Institutions, SRM I Ramapuram Campus, Chanakya University, CMR University, East Point Group of Institutions, Karnataka State Open University, Malnad College of Engineering, IIBS, Kammavari Sangha Institute of Technology, St. Joseph Engineering College and S-VYASA Deemed to be University.
