Expectations v/s Reality

Every journey always entails a set of expectations with itself. So did mine of coming to Berkeley to spend a semester.

I came here with the goal of learning and gaining experience in diverse fields as much as I can. From Entrepreneurship to Tech Law to Data Science to partying and hiking with friends on weekends and going on solo trips, I wanted to have the taste of everything on a journey first of its kind in my life.

But not all expectations are always met. And probably there’s a victory in letting go of one’s expectations with the hope of having a reality which might be better than what one had expected for.

My expectation of Berkeley was a typical busy and pretty US urban place with not too many skyscrapers. While these absolutely turned out to be a reality, what took me by surprise (apart from the way too chillier than expected cold weather) was how good the people of this city are. I used to think people in a US city close to the Bay would be too busy in their work and life. I never thought people can go out of their ways to help someone else.

My expectation of the University was super smart kids working their butts off while also enjoying a lot, mostly loving whatever they are studying, lots of study and research groups, awesome professors, beautiful campus, state of the art facilities. While most of them also hold true, neither is everyone as super smart as I expected them to be nor is everyone as passionate about their majors as I thought they would be. But, what’s fulfilling is how people are extremely welcoming and how beautifully they welcome diversity. And as one of my Berkeley classmates once told me- “That’s Berkeley. We study hard and play hard(the obvious meaning).”, it’s fullfilling to see how people do manage to take a break from the daily hustles and live their lives- just as it should be.

Attending events organized by different departments helped me realize about fields I didn’t even know exist!

Turning over to my expectations for myself, I definitely thought this program will help me become a more hard working, sincere, and diligent person, and it’s been almost a month and a half since I am here, I am still probably the same. I only hope to improve myself with the time. Pretty much opposite to my expectations, I haven’t been on a single hike or trip so far.

As against of what I had expected, every course is indeed very experiential, and that’s exactly how I have always wanted my classes to be like. I expected the courses I will be taking will help me learn new ways to succeed in their space, but I never expected they will manage to change my entire outlook towards a particular space.

This program has been slowly changing my outlook towards entrepreneurship, silicon valley, startup ecosystem, the importance of market validation as a whole.

Like every other enthusiastic individual, I had a list of things in mind that I wanted to accomplish when I came to Berkeley, while some are slowly falling into place, not everything has worked out yet.

I have realized that at times, it’s probably okay to be uncertain and only work hard and smart for things that matter to us. I have always been opportunistic and curious, but coming here, I realized the importance of letting go. Letting go of attachment towards one’s ideas. Letting go of fears of failure.

I have realized sometimes having a little different reality than one’s expectations can be fulfilling. I never expected to write a blog, but here I am doing it for my class assignment and surprisingly, enjoying it!

Although I still have my expectations intact and wish most of them to become a reality, I now crave for good surprises too- surprises that can help me grow and have a better experience of this journey.