Komal Ahuja

Finally received my Bachelor’s degree from college yesterday🎓

I’ve spent a good 2 years amidst these red walls, coming to college everyday, ruffling between classes and dance practices, rushing to the admin to get the society finances sorted, eating our yummiest dosa in the canteen, smiling at familiar faces in the corridors even though I didn’t know their names.

I couldn’t attend my last year physically because of the lockdown, but the experiences and memories I created in the first two years were enough for me to cherish college forever.

I didn’t spend a lot of money on my bachelor’s.
I didn’t spend a lot of time inside the classroom.
But outside the classroom, this college and Delhi University, as a whole, had so much to offer that I’ll be grateful forever.

From travelling in trains to IIT Kanpur and IIT Mumbai for college fests to practicing for the competition all night, without sleeping.

From being responsible for myself to leading the dance society as the Vice President and being responsible for 20 people who turned into family.

From entering the college as a stranger to leaving with friends for life.

From being scared about how professors might be to finding those who supported me a lot.

From being scared, lonely, and underconfident to fine-tuning my true personality, being independent, embracing meeting new people and facing challenges—my college really helped me grow holistically.

To the red walls,
Adios🎓
Batch of 2021

#licreatoraccelerator #literaturegraduate

One year ago at this point I was awaiting my visa to move to the UK.
From making the last goodbyes and packing my life into 3 suitcases while feeling too many emotions and still working as a freelancer to stabilise finances, it was one heck of a journey. But it all felt unreal till the day I stepped into the airport, and realised it was actually happening.

Today I get messages from countless students who are in the same position as me, anxious yet excited to move to a new country to study yes, but to explore and grow so much more than they can ever imagine. For anyone who's stepping into this journey, here are 3 nuggets I'd like to offer:

👉Be opportunistic: What seems rose-tinted from a distance isn't very much so in reality, so make sure you set some realistic expectations and be prepared for things to not go your way. You will face a lot of uncertainty and challenges of stepping into the unknown and living in a very different environment, but make sure you take those out-of-comfort situations as opportunities because that's when the maximum growth happens. Be proactive in making yourself present in places, even if it means attending an event among 1000 people you don't know or meeting a person with a different cultural background for the first time offline - just do it.

👉Don't lose sight of the long-term goal: When you move abroad, life tends to get very fast-paced. Suddenly you move from a place of doing things comfortably to thinking 24 hours aren't enough. Add to that emotions of being alone in a new country and it can get easy to think about giving up because of what you're going through in the moment. But try and zoom out to look at the bigger picture, and where the efforts and moments of difficulty today will lead you to, and use that as motivation to power through.

👉Spend some time alone: While it's super important to stay connected to your friends and family at home for your well-being and make new friends and contacts in the new country, equally prioritise spending time alone because it'll allow you to see things from a completely different perspective. You'll be in a non-conditioned environment with a lot of simulation, and cultural shocks but if you start observing these things, spending time alone, and going out to explore - you will learn a lot of things about yourself you haven't paid attention to before. So, give yourself the luxury of observation by doing some things alone and introspect, it'll broaden your mindset so much.

Lastly, a reality check: moving abroad isn't as romanticised as they make it out to be on social media. But it's definitely rewarding - only if you let it be. Make sure to have a lot of fun, make mistakes everyday, keep yourself open to new experiences and remind yourself of why you're there.

#studyabroad #internationalstudents

A big thing 2022 taught me was: no dream is too big.

At the start of last year, I had no idea where I would be right now. But I did have an idea about where I wanted to be and used it as my north star while making plans, and setting goals.

Here are 3 things I recommend if you want to realistically turn your dreams into reality this year:

👉Broaden your mindset: It’s difficult to achieve your goals when you, yourself don’t believe it’s possible to do it or some mindset blocks restrict you from moving forward beyond a point.

So, consciously try to broaden your mindset by talking to new people, reading content that makes you think hard, and unlearn things that no longer make sense for you.

👉Back track your goals to make an action plan

When I decided I wanted to move to the UK for my masters, there was an unrealistic number in front of me, in terms of the money I’d had to make in the following months to sponsor my education and cost of living.

Instead of panicking, I moved to planning. I analysed the number of months I had before I had to make any expenses, how much I’d have to earn each month, through which freelance offerings I can do that, what should be my minimum project value, which clients don’t fit my goals anymore and what kind of clients I need to close. This worked really well for me.

👉Don’t get too comfortable

I left a successful freelance business to pursue a masters—something too many people frowned upon— because I wanted to get out of the lil comfort circle I had created for myself.

Getting out of it last year was the best decision I’ve ever made, because I’ve grown so much as an individual, and professional and feel more fulfilled with my life than ever before. But, I don’t think this would’ve been possible if I didn’t take the road less taken, or put myself in uncomfortable situations.

So, this year try to challenge yourself by doing things you’ve been avoiding for too long. This can be as little as creating video content 4x a week, and sticking to it for 6 months. Once you start breaking out of your comfort patterns, you’ll see how much you learn and grow.

What’s your goal for 2023? I’ll give you a tip for it in the comments!

#goalsetting #growthmindset #freelancers #students #careers