Two Friends, Two Paths
An IITian and a Tier-3 Engineer Talk Life, Learning & Everything In Between
“College doesn’t define you. But what you do with it—does.”
📖 The Story Begins…
Meet Arjun and Ravi.
Two best friends from the same school in Hyderabad. Same tuition classes. Same chai breaks. Same dreams—until their paths diverged.
Arjun cracked JEE Advanced and walked into the gates of IIT Kharagpur.
Ravi, after two failed attempts, took admission in a Tier-3 private engineering college nearby.
What followed wasn’t a story of success vs failure. It was something deeper.
It was real life.
🎓 Arjun @ IIT Kharagpur
“Everyone expected me to shine. But no one told me how heavy the pressure would be.”
At IIT, Arjun found brilliance—but also burnout.
He met people who spoke in code, built startups in their hostel rooms, and seemed ten steps ahead. Impostor syndrome became his roommate.
“I thought getting in was the hardest part. Turns out, staying confident here is even tougher.”
Yet, Arjun pushed through. He explored robotics, joined tech clubs, and even won a national hackathon. But somewhere, he missed the simplicity of life before JEE.
🏫 Ravi @ Local Engineering College
“People say Tier-3 means no future. I say it means more hustle.”
Ravi’s college lacked fancy labs or brand name recruiters. But it gave him something else—time and grit.
He worked part-time, took online courses, and built a freelance portfolio while his classmates crammed for internals.
“I didn’t have IIT on my resume. So I built a resume that made them look twice anyway.”
Ravi’s biggest win? A remote internship with a US startup in 3rd year—and a paid job offer before graduation.
☕ One Evening, One Conversation
Four years later, Arjun and Ravi met at their favorite Irani café in Hyderabad.
They talked about grades, growth, and the gap between perception and truth.
Arjun said:
“People assume I had it easy because I was in IIT. But it’s a battlefield there—just of a different kind.”
Ravi smiled:
“And people assume I had it hard. But I found my freedom in the chaos.”
They clinked their chai glasses.
💡 The Real Takeaway?
Your college doesn’t define your destiny. Your decisions do.
Whether you’re in a Tier-1 IIT or a Tier-3 local college, the hustle, mindset, and choices matter more than the name on your ID card.
Both Arjun and Ravi made it—because they kept showing up, learning, failing, growing.
So if you’re a student stuck between JEE dreams or backup plans, remember this:
It’s not about where you start. It’s about how far you’re willing to go.
🔗 Join the Conversation
What path are you walking—and how are you making the most of it?
Send us your story on apnikitabh@gmail.com