A year off:My experience by Asheek Powdyel ( Black Squad Rapper).

A Year off: My Experience

Since graduating from college a year ago, I have had my share of experiencing both the good as well as challenging times. As a fresh graduate, one may think of sitting for the RCSC examination or maybe immediately going for the job market (9-5 to be precise) or at least get into something which may not actually be of his/her genuine interest. 

It started in July last year where I had to decide whether to immediately get  recruited in the job market or apply for higher studies or maybe firstly sit for the RCSC examination. I sat for the RCSC examination but luck did not favor me as I could not get through the preliminary examination. Secondly, I applied for a scholarship to go for further studies abroad and had sat for an interview but that was taken as well. I applied in many job agencies and sent my documents in mail but it was all to never get a reply of being selected. 

Time was flying and indeed it flies really fast. My parents, relatives and friends would insist me upon doing something real quick; those whom I was not in contact for years would call me and ask me out of curiosity about what I was doing for a living after graduation. My answer: “I have been applying here and there but yet to get a reply” and that continued for many months. I had lost hope and was not feeling good looking at myself. At that very moment I thought that no matter what happens I will just sit back, do something which I never got time doing before and take a year off just to see what happens next. 

From a very young age I was really introverted kind of a person, shy and mostly alone which I still am. I would spend the whole day inside the house without really feeling bored as I had got so much used to it that I really felt a bit different when I went outside or somewhere else. Yet as I think about it now in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis where you mostly have to stay home, I could cope with the boredom which many of the young people would find it difficult to cope with.

 

During the course of the year that I took off, I gradually felt in love with books and had all the time to read as many as I could which were piled up in our shelf for many years untouched. Malcolm Gladwell and Sidney Sheldon became my favorite authors.  As a person who loves music and mostly hip-hop genre, I would spend hours and hours writing and re-writing lyrics and selecting beats from YouTube to suit with what I had written about and yes I did it sometimes without sleeping all night. So in that way although depriving myself of at least eight hours of sleep, I could give more time for the thing I was passionate about.  I had the time to go for hiking and visit places I never thought I would make it. More importantly, I had the most fruitful moments with my family and I could spend more time with them. So from the outside it seemed to others that I was not doing anything else by wasting my time but to be honest I was engaged in something which otherwise seemed of less importance and value to others and I must admit that those were the moments which made me more alive than ever before. 

I am sharing my honest and own experiences to let especially our younger generation know that it is okay to give time or take a year off for the things you love to do although you may feel pressurized by others who insist you to do something else. It is certain that once you get into a job and have a family of your own, it will be very difficult to get all the time to work on your interests and passion. It is okay to fail than to regret all your life thinking about the things which you could have possibly done. I am not a philosopher or a motivational speaker of any kind to tell you all such things but what I have realized over the past years is that it is not only about having a prosperous and well paying job but giving time to experience and take interest in small priceless things which matters the most in one’s life. THAT’S WHERE REAL HAPPINESS CAME FROM FOR ME!

Regards,

Asheek Powdyel.