career Archives - Hope With Anirban

How I Feel After Coming Back From Bangalore To Howrah

The author writes about “How I Feel” after coming from Bangalore to Howrah after staying there for 1.5 years looking for a job.

I feel calm.

But I also feel like I am not living up to my potential.

When I was in Bangalore, I was applying to jobs and I was getting a few interviews as well. But here in West Bengal the job market is tricky and deceptive.

There are so many criteria and requirements that are not suited for a fresher.

So I am forced to apply for jobs in other states.

I’m also applying to competitive exams, but I am always having to choose between competitive exams vs private job search because my personality issues don’t allow me to do multi-tasking effectively.

So I find it difficult to navigate the job market.

Although I am in my comfort zone, I feel uncomfortable in Howrah. Not because I don’t like it here, but because the job opportunities are less here.

Please don’t get me wrong. I love my parents, I love my grandmother and my relatives but I don’t see a future here. There simply aren’t enough places to shine in as an entry level data analyst with no experience.

Maybe in the future when I have more years of experience, I’ll think about moving back to Howrah from wherever I get a job.

Till then my job search continues.

Apart from my career, I feel like I need to do more physical activities. But I feel like I need to lose more weight.

So yeah I feel uncomfortable after coming from Bangalore to Howrah.

Thank you for reading this line! It means a lot.

College Memories: Pleasant And Negative

The author writes about his regular college memories and how they are influencing his mind in both pleasant and negative ways.

I’ve gone to regular college but I quit.

Due to my anxiety, I quit regular college and got admitted to another college in online mode.

The memories of the regular college were both pleasant and negative.

Sometimes they haunt me.

College Memories: What Was Possible

They remind me of what was possible. Of what I could have accomplished.

I did avoid regular college and I got admitted to online college.

But I don’t regret my decision. It was what was appropriate for that situation.

There’s no other alternative I could have gone for given what I knew back then.

There’s a stigma around online and distance education in India and also around the world.

And that may kind of hurt my career.

But it’s in the past.

I don’t want it to turn into a bad memory.

Nor do I want it to poison my soul. Because it is exactly that.

It’s going to make me negative and have regrets which I don’t want.

So I’ll stop thinking about it. I’ll focus on the present and future. Not the past.

Right now I am an MBA post-graduate. And I have completed my Bachelor’s and Master’s.

Conclusion

I need to focus on how to move forward, not look back and have regrets.

Thanks for reading this line! It means a lot.

I wanted to be an astronaut and a singer at five

When you were five, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Plainly and simply I wanted to be an astronaut and a singer.

Because astronauts move mankind forward and I love to sing.

But as I grew older, I discovered my true preferences.

I realised that I was born to be a writer.

I was born to think differently.

I was born to love books.

I was born to love the truth.

When I was five, I only said what I learnt from my environment that astronauts and singer are reputable professions.

But as I aged and I got wiser. I learnt what I want and what I don’t want. And what my soul truly craves.

My soul craves self-expression.

Also in life we can’t get everything because of our circumstances.

So we need to accept everything- the successes and the failures.

I’m glad you read this line. Thanks a lot!

Image credit – https://unsplash.com/photos/astronaut-in-spacesuit-floating-in-space-Yj1M5riCKk4?utm_content=creditShareLink&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash

“You were finding CA Foundation difficult?” A mental health perspective

The author recounts a challenging experience with a coaching center regarding the CA Foundation exam, highlighting their struggles with bipolar disorder and social anxiety. They emphasize the importance of gratitude for personal strengths and mental health, recognizing that everyone’s journey is different and that worth isn’t solely defined by academic success.

A few months ago I got a phone call from a popular coaching center in India.

The person on the other side asked if I had taken the CA Foundation exam. She also asked other questions that were somehow rude.

So she asked-

“Have you taken the CA Foundation exam?” I had taken admission in their CA Foundation batch for a few months despite finding it difficult to cope with the demands of its preparation. And yes I find it demanding because I had BPAD and Social Anxiety and I am not special. I answered her with a “No.”
“Why not?” was her next question. I answered “I have dropped out of it.”
“Why?” was her yet another question. I answered “I was finding it difficult.”
“You were finding CA Foundation difficult??” I could hear her disgust and confusion through the phone call. I kindly hung up.

The above is what happened a few months ago.

For those who don’t know,CA exams or the Chartered Accountancy exams, being one of the most difficult exams in India and the world, are divided into 3 exams, foundation, intermediate and finals. After qualifying in all of them, you become a Chartered Accountant which is one of the highest and most powerful positions in accounting and finance. And most commerce students in India aim for being a CA. It takes on average about 5-7 years to become a CA(might be less due to recent changes).

So I wanted to give this a shot. But my bipolar affective disorder and anxiety shot through the roof and stress came. I was weak in academics and I found CA studies difficult. But mostly because of my inability to study for more than a few hours daily.

Well after writing this what I want to tell you is-

Be grateful for what you have.

Maybe you are struggling with mental health issues. Maybe you can’t do some things because your mind causes problems. Maybe you have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder or Depression or Anxiety or you struggle with severely negative thoughts.

You are not alone.

Some people are lucky to have everything and be normal.

Some people are lucky to have a healthy mind, a healthy body, a great family, and a great partner.

And then in my case, some people are lucky to be able to focus, study long hours, go to coaching classes, attend classes online, ask doubts without feeling sick in the stomach, etc.

Some people forget to be grateful about these things.

Even I take my family, my life, my friends, my intellect, my writing skills, my creativity, my technical savviness,etc. for granted sometimes.

So be grateful for what you have even if it looks less in quantity than other peoples’ shares.

Trust me when I say, “God has better plans for you than you can even imagine, plans that you don’t yet see.”

So when the person on the call asked me “You were finding CA Foundation difficult?”, I didn’t want to say anything because she won’t understand.

Unless one goes through the same painful circumstances, one won’t understand you.

I don’t blame anyone. I am a good and worthwhile person and I know my worth.

Maybe I am not the best at something. Maybe I am not super hardworking.

Maybe I can’t study for 7 hours daily for CA Foundation. Maybe I can’t deal with the stress that others find quite manageable. Maybe I can’t score 90% marks in most exams.

But I have a good heart. I am scoring 70-75%. I am studying for 2 hours daily.

And personally I am fighting every day. I am fighting nature, I am fighting my BPAD and social anxiety. I am slowly moving forward.

I am not answerable to anyone about why I am not scoring 90%. Or why I am not a “successful” person.

Thank you for reading!

Guide to an online degree for mental health fighters (India)

Anirban, despite battling bipolar affective disorder and social anxiety, has achieved a Bachelor of Business Administration from Amity University Online. He overcame immense self-doubt and setbacks in his academic journey. Anirban advocates for the value of online degrees, emphasizing their legitimacy and the opportunities they provide for stable employment.

Hi I’m Anirban, a person who struggles with bipolar affective disorder(BPAD) and social anxiety. And I have graduated with a bachelors in business administration in spite of my mental health struggles.

Before Online Degree/ Mental Health Struggles

For giving you some context, I was diagnosed with BPAD when I was 17 years old. And I take medication and am a lot better because of my medication and psychotherapy.

At 17, I was in class 12, and I had no confidence in myself, I couldn’t get out of bed and even take a bath or eat alone. I was depressed, manic, and had no self-confidence.

But with God’s blessings I somehow appeared for class 12 board exams and I passed. This was after I was diagnosed.

Then I got into an engineering college where I found it too difficult to understand the subjects. So I quit engineering college.

Then I started pursuing a Bachelor of Arts with Philosophy honors from a local college because I love philosophy.

But due to some technical problems, I was denied Philosophy and had to get into English honors in the same college.

But I couldn’t cope with the new environment and due to my social anxiety, I quit Bachelor of Arts with English honors.

Then I started my own business which was an ecommerce t-shirt print-on-demand business. That’s a story for another day. But I failed in that too.

Online College

But that’s not the end of my career.

I decided to study in an online college (Amity University Online). And I took admission in Bachelor of Business Administration because I had to get a degree. The job market is so competitive in India that you must have a degree to get a decent job.

And I studied, and I passed with 7.0 CGPA after 3 years in 2023.

Hurray!!!

I faced a lot of self-doubt, but I overcame them with the help of my parents and siblings.

Why an Online Degree?

So you may wonder,” Why get an online degree? Maybe it’s not as valuable as a regular degree.” or “How can I get an online degree? I haven’t finished high school.” or “I don’t need a degree because I will start a business.”

Well the last reason is a little naive because a business can fail but once you have a degree you can at least get a standard job anytime you want. And you can’t get a degree anytime you want. But you can start a business anytime you want.

And as for the first doubt,” Why get an online degree? Maybe it’s not as valuable as a regular degree.”, according to the University Grants Commission(UGC) in India, an online degree is equivalent with a regular degree.

Here’s the official notification from UGC’s website.

And as for the second doubt “How can I get an online degree? I haven’t finished high school.”, you can pass school through the National Institute of Open Schools(NIOS).

I have no experience with NIOS. But you can check out other people’s YouTube videos to research the information.

How to get a degree from an online college?

I will only speak about a private online college because I have graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration(BBA) degree from Amity University Online where I have first-hand experience.

First speak to the admission counselor.
Fill the online admission form.
Then pay the first semester fees. Or you can avail an EMI plan.
Then wait for the login credentials for the university online portal which you will receive in your email inbox in a few days.
(optional) Attend the orientation program occurring for online students of that university.
Study and take the exams at semester end.(The exams are online proctored, meaning you will need a webcam on your laptop or PC and there will be a professor or admission invigilator who will watch you while you write the exam by typing.
(Optional)Attendance in online classes is not mandatory.
(Optional) Attend the convocation program and get your degree. Or you can get it via courier.
The medium of education is mostly English. And you need to be comfortable typing your answers on a computer.
Physical books are sent to your address every semester.
You can send them any query you have via email or the portal or even talk to them through phone call.
There may be a research project in your degree’s last semester depending on which degree you choose. You need to manage it somehow.

Conclusion

If you have any doubts, you can contact me via the contact form or send me a DM on Instagram(@anirbansaren657) or LinkedIn(https://www.linkedin.com/in/anirbansaren/).

I hope you found something useful from this blog post. I hope you get your future college degree and get a good job in spite of having mental health issues.

Dropping Engineering To Pursuing MBA: Finding Peace Within

I know that the world is not easy to live in. But it is worth the struggle.

When I had just dropped out of engineering college in 2018, I didn’t know what I wanted. I just got admitted to a philosophy honors degree program at a local college.

But as easy as it was to quit engineering, it was not at all easy to withstand the shock of philosophy being taken away by a technical issue in the college’s admission system after a few months.

I had quit engineering and started studying philosophy. Everything was going well. But before our first semester exams, the college authorities told me that they couldn’t allow me to sit for my philosophy honors exams because my university’s criteria for philosophy weren’t met.

Later, they offered me other subjects. I took the offer with English honors. But I didn’t like the subject, and I struggled.

Even after quitting engineering and getting English honors, I was struggling.

Life always seems to make you struggle until you find peace within yourself.

So I was forced to admit myself in an online bachelor of business degree(BBA), which I completed, and I am currently pursuing an online master of business administration(MBA).

What people know is that I completed my BBA. But they don’t know how I found peace within myself to be able to complete it.

More about that in another blog post. But a quick introduction to that would be when I was pursuing the online BBA, I was also thinking about pursuing a philosophy degree from other universities. But I stopped thinking about those distractions and focused on my present reality.

With this, I would like to thank my mom, dad, sister, and my friends. And I would also like to thank you for reading this blog post.

What did you learn from this blog post?