Achievements – they’ve always had a deep meaning for me. For me, achievements don’t always mean winning trophies and certificates, becoming a gold medalist, or being selected in IIT [so, my wonderful and capable friends who didn't make it, life definitely has something better suited for you all ;) ].

Sometimes, an achievement can just mean trying out something you’ve always been afraid of. Or making a study schedule for yourself and actually following it. Or keeping calm and cool when someone is trying extremely hard to get on your nerves. Or sometimes it can just mean reaching somewhere on time! (And well I’ve never yet been able to achieve THAT ;) )

So anyway. Here’s a list of some small and some big things which I consider major achievements ever since I turned 18! :D

#Cooking 
From someone who could never stand in the kitchen for more than 1.45 seconds, I’ve now become someone who can spend ages there experimenting with spices, and actually enjoying the experience. 5 or 6 things learned properly, and still counting. :)

#Driving
This one is huge! I say huge because Tata Indica DLX [diesel version] is one big car which is pretty difficult to manage. Nevertheless, after a lot of embarrassing and frustrating moments with it in the middle of the road, I can now manage to drive in some of the most crowded areas of this city.

#Understanding the car gearing system
Yes, I want to include this separately. For probably a whole month since I began learning, the gear system baffled me completely. I couldn’t understand where my Dad was getting the divine knowledge of when to change to what gear. Now that I understand it, it feels pretty stupid that it was so confusing earlier. But then it’s okay to be a slow learner sometimes :D

#Getting 1,090 Comments on a status, and 80 Likes on another
Haha, facebook makes me feel a little more loved every day ;)

#The Newspaper Articles
A picture of me with a write-up saying that I scored a 92% in class 12, and another article about me was published in two separate newspapers. It’s not the fact that I just appeared in the newspapers, but the fact that I was acknowledged to be worthy of appearing in them, that I consider the real achievement. ;)

#Taking an Interview
I haven’t admitted this to many people, but the idea of approaching a person and questioning them for details relating to a story, is pretty frightening to me. But then I also have this thing in me to always try out what I’m afraid of. And so, when Youth Journalism International offered me the opportunity of learning how to take interviews, I took the dive and took two of them. And ignoring all modesty, I think I did a great job at it :D

#The 91 in Maths
No, the real achievement was the fact that I deactivated my facebook account for 6 whole days, switched my mobile off, and studied as long as 12 hours a day for maths sometimes. I could never imagine that I’d ever do something like this for an exam! And though I couldn’t get the 100 which I was so obsessed about, I think 91 isn’t bad at all :)

#Playing the Guitar again
After around 2 years of completely abandoning it, I joined the classes and started playing it again. Which means that I stopped being dull, unenthusiastic, disinterested and lazy every time I looked at my guitar! ;)

#Being Happy when Others Succeed
I never had issues with others succeeding, but since a couple of months I’ve started to feel a very genuine and enthusiastic happiness when I see my friends and colleagues achieving something. Instead of threatening me, they make me proud, and sometimes motivate me. And when you can truly appreciate other people’s success, you know you’ve achieved something within yourself ;)

#The 97 in Business Studies
This is a real achievement, because I didn’t even study that much for this. Due to lack of information I’m not sure yet if this is the highest score in the subject, but as of now I haven’t come across anyone who scored more than this. The 95 in Accounts was still a bit of hard work, but this didn’t take that much of effort! :D

#Making New Friends in Real Life
It’s easy to send a friend request on facebook and becoming friends with someone, but it was terrifying for me to do that off the internet. I heard this from many people that from behind my laptop, I had a whole different personality from what I exhibited in real life. So gradually I’ve developed a more extroverted approach towards people, and I knew I succeeded after I made almost 8 new friends at my coaching institute by myself :)

#Writing this post
Just for the record, every time I actually finish a post at this blog instead of leaving it half way, it’s an achievement. :D

Whew, it seems like I’ve been doing a lot of stuff lately. This will now be followed by entrance tests, college applications, cutoff lists, irrational fear [like "What if I don't get admission anywhere?!!"], train journeys, being exhausted, hostel life, and on and on. And if I live through that, I suppose I could add one more achievement to this list ;)

And so, in my own ways, I celebrate these small successes, and know that more will follow. ^_^

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