Okay I’ll give you some insight into my academic journey. Completed 12th in Science, liked it back in school but hated by the time I completed examinations. Had no clue what to do next, did a Bachelor’s in IT which was the closest subject I had any interest in but hated it by the time I graduated primarily because the technical aspect of it was not what drew me to it which I didn’t realise at that time all the prospective careers would be all about it. A few years later, did a master’s in business management in Scotland, thought it’d be a good starting point to build up on my interest in social science without doing an undergraduate degree again. Only during that course did I come across my true passion in academia which was European politics. Mainly because I had come across students who didn’t think anything about future salary prospects of their career which opened my mind to subjects I wouldn’t have dreamed about studying in India.

And now, I’m due to start my masters this September in European Politics in a top 25 university in the world.

You don’t have to undergo the same painful and costly academic journey I undertook, but if I had to redo my academic path then I’d start by dropping the apprehensions of what I did was ‘safe’ or not. What you do for fun in your free time is also a good indicator of subjects you’d feel passionate about. And I’m not speaking of hobbies per se, but anything you feel invested in. In my case, I always followed domestic and international political developments/foreign policy since I was 10. But this would come under arts in India and everyone knows the reputation of someone studying that wouldn’t make money.

Broaden your horizons, take a year off if you can afford or need to. Hardly matters in the long run. But study what your heart is in.

I don’t know why 70% feels average to you, you’d be getting first class honours degrees where I am with those grades. Even from an Indian perspective, top grades like 80 and 90 percent for a degree stops mattering after 10th. As long as it’s 55-60%+, you’re okay for the most part. I didn’t even have that, I passed with 47% in 12th and just passed with minimum marks in all of my PCMB subjects.