Peer Pressure

 “Rohan, this is the age to play. You can study later,” said my childhood friends.

“Rohan, school studies are much more important than JEE preparation,” said my class teacher in class XI.

“Rohan, CGPA does not matter. You need to apply to more clubs and participate in as many events as possible,” said my B.Tech seniors.

One decision I took in my childhood, that still defines me today, is that I never bowed down to peer pressure. Not in school. Not in college. And not now.

When I have to make a choice, I would talk to as many people as I can to gain their inputs. I am fortunate to have many mentors, and I seek their guidance from time to time. But when I finally take a decision, I go ahead with what I want to do, and not what others want me to do.

When I decided to opt out of the summer placements at IIT Kanpur and apply off-campus to universities abroad, my peers advised me against it. I opted out of the process nevertheless. When they finally realized that I was not going to change my decision, they advised me to choose a university in the US because of the rankings. I wanted to travel across Europe, so I finally chose a Swiss University. Once again, I did not bow down to peer pressure.

When I decided to opt out of the final placements at IIT Kanpur to travel again, with the hope that I will clear CAT, every single person advised me against it. I followed my heart nevertheless, not bowing down to peer pressure.

When I decided to go on a student exchange for two terms instead of one term during my MBA, everyone advised me against it. “MBA is all about networking with the students, and you will miss that chance if you go out for such a long time,” they said. I decided to apply for the dual exchange anyway, and had an absolutely amazing time.

When I have a lot of work, and my friends invite me to a party, I choose to work. I know my priorities better than anybody else, and I stick to that. This does not mean that I do not go out. In fact, I go out with friends so much that I hardly ever get time to sleep. But we need to realize that there is a right time for everything, and we need to prioritize accordingly.

When you take a decision without bowing down to peer pressure, you own that decision. And when you own that decision, you own the outcome related to that decision as well. Each of the decisions I took could have gone horribly wrong, but I was okay with that because I knew that it was my decision. And I was ready to take full responsibility for the outcomes.

When you own a decision, you will not have the excuse to blame anyone, because you know that it was completely your choice. As a result, you will slowly become much more confident in taking decisions in the future.

Once you become more confident in taking decisions, you will find yourself sailing through the journey of life much more smoothly. After all, isn’t life all about taking decisions, every single day?

-Rohan Jain, IIT-IIM