"Stop believing in the notion of the stars waiting for them to shoot. Be one."- Aarushi Jain

Everyone has a role model and we all aspire to be like them. True? 

Not in my case though. My family taught me to never follow someone and be one of kind. Writing has been an integral part of me since I was 8 years old and I wrote my first poem. Language has always been my forte and in spite of being a skillful debater and an orator in school, I never had any instinct for writing. You won’t believe, I had initial plans of becoming a pilot! All my research was done, my plans were clear. But still, I was yearning for a nod from my inner self which was unknowingly difficult to get. Thanks to my mathematics teacher, I realized about the application of trigonometry in aviation and I left the plan then and there. 

I took up Commerce in Class 11 and made up my mind for BBA and soon realized, mathematics drop-out students aren’t given admission in reputed colleges, leaving me with an anonymous future. 

One day, I randomly started off this page @penned__ideas on Instagram on a friend’s suggestion and begun posting write-ups. 

It was in January 2019 when I got my first article featured in Hitavada newspaper and realized writing is the right profession and I should pursue Journalism. 

I didn’t gain many followers on my page like others because I created the page for honest readers and measuring success by number of followers has never been my thinking. It’s been 2 years to my page and 6 of my articles have been featured in The Hitavada newspaper and I am in the process of publishing my first Non-Fiction Book with Notion Press Publishers! 

Also, I cleared my DELF French A1 exam recently and on my mom’s instance, started teaching French online to utilize this lockdown. Result? 

Well today I have successfully finished teaching 40+ students and proudly carrying out my personal expenses from the amount I have earned. 

One lesson I’ve learned from my experience is - There’s no point in pre-planning things. Not even you need a backup plan always. Trust the insights and keep grabbing the opportunities coming your way. I agree it’s difficult to be different, but not impossible. 

STOP FOLLOWING THE CROWD, LET THEM FOLLOW YOU

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