I could not come to terms with the fact that I was doing BBA now and could not leave the world of medicine which I was dwelling in since I was a child.

I wanted to be a doctor my whole life but ended up doing BBA, and life changed

From a girl who only wanted to do medicine and whose dream universities weren’t LUMS or IBA, I struggled immensely.

Shehrbano Shaukat September 16, 2018
As a child, I always wanted to pursue medicine. I was the kid who would memorise the names of bones from a skeleton drawn in her book and tell her dad about this achievement. Medicine was my passion from the start. As a teenager, I wanted to do something substantial in life and my goal was to be an independent woman like my mother.

Working hard had become both a passion and a liability to achieve what I always wanted to do. But last year, when the time for admissions into medical colleges came, things didn’t play out so well. And as many variables are responsible for a certain thing to happen or come about, all the factors responsible for my admission into a medical college played against me. Hence, last year, I ended up in a business school in my city, enrolled in a BBA program. For a girl who never wanted to do anything other than medicine and whose dream universities weren’t Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) or Institute of Business Administration (IBA) but King Edward Medical University and Allama Iqbal Medical College, I struggled immensely in the first semester of university. From being a person who laughed in fits, I turned into someone who used to cry to sleep every night and wanted to be rescued.

Although I had the luxury of finding good people who became my friends, I could not come to terms with the fact that I was doing BBA now and could not leave the world of medicine which I was dwelling in since I was a child. I know many people end up in universities that they had not thought they would go to, studying subjects they had never planned to study. Although they eventually move on and start having fun at university and make new friends, they still feel that their purpose of life has been lost and that their life is worthless. Speaking for myself, I have the same state of mind every now and then because I have studied science all my life. I wanted to be a doctor and the passion for studying the complexities of the human body is what drove that desire.

But what I and someone like me can do to come out of this state of mind is to really think why they wanted to opt for a particular career. For some, because they haven’t studied anything besides a particular field of study throughout their lives, they think they won’t be and cannot be interested in some other subject. But when you actually study something else, only then can you realise what else interests you. Studying macroeconomics in the second semester has gotten me interested in how a country’s economy actually works and how hard it is to run it. Think why you wanted to pursue a particular career; was it because you wanted to help people? Because you wanted to invent something? Because you wanted to do something for your country?

If you find out the reason why you wanted to pursue a particular profession, you would realise that your goal in life was that reason itself and not just the profession. It might be possible that you cannot achieve that reason with the profession you desired but it does not mean that you can’t achieve it at all! If the purpose of your life earlier was to help people or to invent something then why should that purpose change now? What we often misconceive is that we can only do something if we have a certain degree, that perception is entirely wrong. You can do all the things you want to do with any degree. Let me give you a small example; if you want to help people, why not work in an NGO? Where the hours of work are equally as tough as a doctor working in a ward.

Moreover, most of us don’t want to be bored at any certain point in our lives, where we regret the chances we didn’t take and evaluate all the ‘what ifs’ in our lives. Some of us don’t want to end up in corporate jobs wearing a suit all day in an air-conditioned office, contributing to nothing at all and really detest it. A wise man once said that if you follow your passion, you never have to work because then work isn’t work for you. You’re simply doing what you love doing. I’m not suggesting any of you to necessarily find your passion within the boundaries of the university you’re currently studying in but if your passion even lies outside them, go for it and try it because as clichéd as it sounds, in the end we only regret the chances we didn’t take.

At Lahore School of Economics, I intend to double major in Economics and Finance because these subjects have really caught my attention and because this is a tough and challenging degree, and I’m someone who gets satisfaction out of studying and achieving academic goals in life. I would like to give the example of a girl here whose story inspired me to come to terms with my new reality and my university. Marriam Musa who came to the same university I’m currently studying in, after being rejected from her dream university, worked her way up the ladder and ended up doing her Masters from Stanford University on a Fulbright Scholarship. Am I aspiring to be like her and go on a Fulbright Masters? Yes. But even if I don’t, that will be okay because I’ll still have done what I enjoy most, which is studying something which pushes me and makes me burn the midnight oil.

For all those who are currently struggling in university, find something that you enjoy studying because as Albert Einstein famous said,
“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”

If you find your passion and work in its direction, you’ll end up being more satisfied.

I hope this blog was able to lift up the spirits of people who feel let down by life. Always remember, wherever you are and whatever you’re currently doing in life is only making you stronger.

To lifted spirits and hearts!
WRITTEN BY:
Shehrbano Shaukat I am currently studying in Lahore School of Economics and will begin my third semester in August and I aspire to double major in Economics and Finance. She tweets @SPittafi (https://twitter.com/SPittafi)
The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necassarily reflect the views and policies of the Express Tribune.

COMMENTS (11)

Muhammad Ali Arif | 2 years ago | Reply

Great Article I know I am late but I have the same problem Always wanted to be related to medical profession First time I couldnt make it to a med college but I decide to repeat . Next year covid came and everyone was awarded fsc marks except repeaters and because of that I was left out once again My parents couldnt afford Private universities. I applied in most of the medical related fields but again fsc marks screwed me only 1020 Now I am pursuing CA and I have no interest in the subjects I am studying . I still cry at nights and sometimes have severe depression and anxiety I force myself to study because of my parents that i cant fail them again I know probably nobody will read it but I wanted to write all that because there is nobody else that I can share it with Peace

muzammil | 5 years ago | Reply very very nice article my dear! really very helpful, i thought this is very good way to deal young generation. live this moment happily, because this moment is your life
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