What's the point?

Disclaimer

***This is primarily aimed at VTU affiliated students. This may/may not apply to students from other curriculum.***

What was the point of those internals that you just finished?
What was the point of those lab records that you painstakingly wrote for days only to be discarded without so much as a second look? Undoubtedly, the majority of answers would be along the lines of "I was just trying to get the average".

Now, there is no point in ostracizing any particular person because unfortunately, that's how the system works. Before going to the laboratory, we obtain the formula and results from our seniors or teachers and then proceed to follow instructions, neatly write lab records and present them at the end of the semester to provide a neat little boost to your marks. Where is the learning in this?

Similarly with the final exams. If you don't fill up your papers with
neat handwriting and paragraphs that thoroughly test the rinse and repeat capability of a student,you don't get marks. End of. Write a precise technical 5 line answer that would make Elon Musk proud?! Too bad, you're probably going to get a 3/10. The most heinous crime however is to code using your own logic. That earns you a big fat zero even if your code is more optimized and better than the general program in the textbook.

Take a look at it from a tech manager's perspective. If you're looking at a new hire's documentation of some technology, would you rather have it precise and to the point or filled with pages of drivel? And does the tech industry want people to innovate and make better systems or use the same logic that people have used for Centuries? Again, what's the point??!

Zoho Corp(One of the only companies in the world which is a unicorn despite being bootstrapped since inception) is a huge multi national company which constantly needs to innovate and push out new technology. Zoho hires people,even college dropouts, who have talent and have the drive to succeed. They are judged primarily on their understanding of the subject and the side projects they've done,not their marks. If they are able to constantly churn out good products at a rate with people that the system deems unfit, who is really at fault here? Zoho is just one example, there are countless others out there doing the same.

This post is not to discourage people from studying engineering or any other stream. This is just to inform people that marks isn't everything in life. It's better to have a good understanding of the subject and bad marks than the other way around. Also take time out for preparing yourself in other things like your soft skills, etiquette etc which can have a significant impact on your life. At the end of the day, the latter skills will have a much bigger say than your neat record with a 10/10 emblazoned on it. 

So, the next time you do start doing something, take a few seconds and think : What's the point??


P.S. Be as harsh as you guys want with the feedback. :P