IIT Bombay alum felt intimidated by toppers, shares career advice 10 years later

An IIT Bombay alum revisited the campus and recalled feeling overshadowed by toppers when she joined in 2016. She said the experience later taught her to stop comparing timelines and not lose herself in the rat race.IIT Bombay alum felt intimidated by toppers, advises not to get stuck in rat race (AI-edited image: Instagram/misackermann)For students who grow up being among the best in their class, entering a top institute can come with an unexpected reality check.An IIT Bombay alum recently returned to the Powai campus, 10 years after joining the institute as a student in 2016. Looking back, she remembered how intimidated she felt during her early days there.“Back home I might have been a topper, but over here I was surrounded by national-level toppers and extremely intelligent people,” she said in a video shared from the campus.She also struggled with confidence while speaking English and felt academically conscious. “I was not special any more,” she recalled.The experience is familiar to many students who move from being high achievers at school to highly competitive colleges. But for her, that feeling did not define what came next.THE CAREER DIDN’T FOLLOW THE DEGREE A decade later, the alum said she has changed in ways that she could not have predicted as a student.“I have grown in so many different ways. I failed many times,” she said. Those failures, she suggested, became part of her professional growth rather than something to hide.She is also now more confident communicating in English and said she is doing better than many of her peers professionally and financially.Interestingly, her current career has little connection with what she studied at IIT Bombay. “My current career has nothing to do with my degree,” she said, adding that this is common among IIT graduates.That is an important career lesson for students who assume that their degree must determine their entire professional life.YOUR FRIEND’S SALARY IS NOT YOUR CAREER PLANThe alum's advice was less about securing the biggest job or reaching the highest salary and more about avoiding constant comparison.“Don’t beat yourself up too much comparing your journey with others,” she said. “You will find out your own way in your own pace, and everyone is unique.”The pressure to keep up can become especially strong after college, when young professionals start comparing job titles, salaries, promotions and companies.But career paths rarely move at the same speed.Someone may land a high-paying job immediately after college, while another person may take years to find the right field. A career change, a failed attempt or a slower start does not necessarily mean someone is falling behind.DON’T LET THE RAT RACE PICK YOUR JOBShe also warned young people against allowing external expectations to dictate their choices.“Be patient and don’t put too much self-made pressure because we tend to put a lot of pressure on ourselves,” she said.She urged people not to get so caught up in the “rat race” that they lose sight of who they are, what they actually want from life and what they want to do beyond what society or parents expect.For young professionals, that could mean questioning whether the next promotion, job switch or salary hike is actually something they want, rather than simply the next item on everyone else’s checklist.“Enjoy life and figure things out,” she said. “It’ll all work out.”- EndsPublished By: Princy ShuklaPublished On: Aug 18, 2026 10:06 IST