I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the differences.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and I - I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the differences. - Robert frost

Last one week I was exhausted with all my assignments submissions and my mid- term test. I did not get enough sleep. Although it was group assignment I had to contribute my part there. A big hug from my mentor would always cherish me. Whenever I feel tired and exhausted I will text him. He is a successful entrepreneur. His name is Elango Thiyagu. So do check this page to know more of what he is doing. 
( https://www.facebook.com/ETIdeasGroup/?fref=ts ) Here is another link to his blog. Do read his interesting experiences and a different dimension of life. (http://elangothiyagu.com/ ) 

The reason I am talking about him is not to promote his business but to share how my life has changed after meeting him. The reason I don't mind travelling to college for 2 hours every single day, and why I do my things happily even after all the tiredness is because I followed my heart. Well we all are unique in our own way,but what I felt was rebelling. I knew life had something extraordinary in store for me. Whoever you are, you have to trust your uniqueness. There is something about you that makes you, yourself, and it takes courage to bring it out.

To admit to yourself that it exists and to have the courage to release it and let it breathe and grow. Society seems to suppress being different. Not in every part of the world, but still, expectations from society can squash your uniqueness. A few months ago, when I was about to make a big decision in my life, was when I met him. At that time, I was trapped into the system of following the norm of society. 

    I entered science stream after my Form Three exams. At that time, I did not know whether I liked science stream or arts. Just because I got a good result, I was told and maybe encouraged to get into that. To be honest, I did not follow my heart. Because during those times I did not even know how to listen to my heart. To put it bluntly I followed the crowd where all highest scoring students are meant to enter science stream. Similar things happened when I finished my form five examination. 

My parents wanted me to continue to form 6 and that was also in science stream. I had the slight interest to enter arts stream in form 6. But again all I did was, listen to my mother. And also my own thoughts went like " What would others think if I suddenly jumped into arts stream? " I understood this situation after I met my mentor. Nature tried its best to bring me into arts stream but in a way I ignored it. 

After I finished my form 6, while waiting for my results, that was when I met my mentor. Here I would like to thank my tuition teacher and also the founder of Sanma Concepts Solutions, Mr Ganesan and Ms Rani who have been a part of ET ideas for a very long time. ( https://www.facebook.com/ETIdeasGroup/?fref=ts ) Believe it or not I did not take his invite seriously to attend ET Youth for few months.   (https://www.facebook.com/ETYouth/?fref=ts ) It is a talk organized by the team. 

This clearly shows how my old programming tried to prevent me from going into a new environment. After attending a few of his talk, I got the opportunity to talk to him. After metting him for few times, he really gave me knocks on my head about how I was so not following my heart. 

Mr Ganesan and Ms Rani during ET Youth. 

Discussion during weekly ET ideas meeting.

 He waited for a few weeks for me to open up and told him what I really liked and wanted to do. I really need to thank him for the patience he had when dealing with me, and even now. Then, I decided to do what I liked and that I was not going to follow the society norm anymore. Previously I was so shy to tell people that this is actually what I liked to do. I was afraid that I would be judged by society. 

Because I thought that " What would other people think if a science stream student has all this kind of likes? " At first it was hard for me to tell people that I have made my mind up and I did not want to do or be into the science stream anymore. I had the fortune of being with my mentor who supported the " out of ordinary" and this is what gave me courage to dare to be different. 

Everyone will look at you as though you have done something wrong for yourself, including your parents. They would make fun of you. They asked me questions like " What is wrong with you " , " Why you did you not study medicine? " and it went on and on. Having a dad who saved my contact as 'Dr Thiviya' on his phone and mom who tells everyone that I am going to study medicine, it was really hard for me to take the path that I actually wanted. I made people feel inferior simply because I had the courage they did not. Because I am alive while they just live. They want you to fail and then tell you that they "told you so". These are the same people that will pat you on the back once you succeed and tell you they believed in you from start.But at the same time I would like to thank my parents for supporting me all this while. Although they are still not happy with my decision, somehow they agreed. They have supported me throughout my life and still.   

The people that will encourage you are the people that are on your team, who took the road less traveled by too. Do not worry if you don't have the full support of your loved one's, they are just worried. We all want stability, security and safety. This is normal. When you get closer to your destination people will have more and more confidence in you. Do not second guess yourself when things don't go that well. You made the right choice. Well these are the things that I was taught to follow by my mentor. 

 ".... and I took the one less traveled by..." you go on a road that is less traveled, you see things others can't. You experience what others don't. This brings you confidence because you survived. You start trusting your decisions, and once you do, others will start to trust you too. You have different stories to tell, you have another outlook on life. And this is all because of your initial choice to take that different road.  "....and that has made all the difference "