The UPSC CSE is not only one of the toughest exams in the country but also one of the most sought-after unpredictable dreams unless it is achieved by an aspirant. People can go from “I dream big to I shouldn’t have dreamt so big” in some cases.
No one can predict when one will crack the exam, no matter how much studies or hard work go into it.
Every year lakhs of aspirants appear for the UPSC CSE and only hundreds of them get success. There are lakhs who prepare for the prestigious exam for years, but only a small percentage is selected.
A long social media post by a Strategy Consultant and mental health specialist, Ms Richa Singh has gone viral, where she discussed about one of her friends trying for UPSC for years. There are now nearly 10 lakh views and more than 1,300 retweets and over 8,000 likes on it, showing how closely people are associated with it.
Ms Richa wrote, “My college best friend is preparing for UPSC for 6 years now (4 attempts). 3 years we took the same bus home, ate together, even were lab partners. She grounded herself initially by disabling all apps and limiting interaction. She is not even on Whatsapp!!”
In the next tweet, she said, “We barely have spoken for past 6 years. Just wishing birthdays to each other and that is only when I had a conversation over text on how she is doing. She didn’t attend any friends wedding. Nobody cares to invite her anymore.”
Later she explained how her friend cut herself off from society and focused only on preparations. She tweeted, “Initially she grounded herself for better preparation but now she is just shy to face all of us since everyone is doing something in life.”
“I have seen her confidence going from I dream big to I shouldn’t have dreamt so big. A supersmart, hardworking, intelligent and beautiful person having low-esteem breaks my heart.”
I asked her to appear for state-level exams as well and she said my 6 years will be wasted. I could have done that much earlier too.
“UPSC is a dream of many but it has shattered dreams of many too. Be it family pressure or whatever, I don’t know if it is worth going through all this. She is still trying. I hope she succeeds. All well if it ends well, right?”
I just missed her today and there is no way to get in touch with her since she changed her number.
Just felt like putting this out, if you have any such friends, please support them. I want to support but I can’t.
I pray for the good news soon. Maybe I see her on TV💫😊
Now netizens are reacting on her thread too. A chartered accountant, Akanksha Singh said, “There was a time while preparing for finals when even I was afraid to face people. Such pressure is real and shit.”
While a user named Swathi Bellam tweeted, “It is called Sunk cost Fallacy which is very difficult to overcome Many people destroy their careers, many companies get destroyed because of this The thinking is We have spent so much on this so if we withdraw from it we will lose that effort But tragedy is they keep on putting more and more effort on a lost cause So if u withdraw today, u will save the future loss.”
