Week 4 - Know thy Worth

Week 4! Mid-term, Realisation, and Grades

As Indian students, we’ve pretty much grown up chasing one thing—marks. Despite Rancho’s advice, we somehow always ended up running after numbers on a report card. Maybe it’s in our DNA.

When I walked into IIM-A, I had promised myself—this is it. My first and possibly last shot at real campus life. (Yes, believe it or not, I’ve never been to a proper college before!) And I was clear about one thing: this time, I wasn’t going to let grades define my journey. I wanted to focus solely on learning and growth. We call it Delta KASH in the IIM-A lingo!

That belief got a solid boost when one of our professors echoed the same idea during our induction. Still, old habits die hard. As someone who spent 30 years equating academic success with numbers—both mine and mine compared to others’—it wasn’t easy to ignore the grades and simply ask myself, “Did I learn something new today?”

Sometimes, a little voice in my head would whisper, “Are you just using this ‘learning over grades’ mindset to avoid working hard?” That doubt lingered—until the FAM midterm results came out.

And they came out in a unique way. Each syndicate was asked to visit the professor in person. He handed us our corrected answer sheets—along with a personal note.

And here’s what my note said:

“You are better than what the marks suggest.”

That one line hit me. The self-doubt disappeared. The belief felt more real than ever. Rancho was right. The professor was right. I was right.

This is my final lap in the academic journey—and I don’t want to spend it chasing grades. I want to pursue excellence. I want to soak it all in and experience every bit of what IIM-A has to offer.

Because honestly, the dream was never to top IIM-A. The dream was simply to be at IIM-A. And now that I’m here, I don’t want to keep moving the goalpost. I want to embrace this victory every second that I am here.

So yes, this week—and all the previous ones—have brought me to this realisation:

Know your worth.

Celebrate where you are.

And don’t let any number or letter convince you otherwise.