Geeks And Geniuses?

If you have survived the label of ‘geek’ all through in your school and college life, irrespective of whether you have been one or not, then congratulations- you can spend your entire life striving to meet people’s seemingly unrealistic, and overtly far-fetched expectations of carving an impeccable career curve.

So whether it is about landing on a white collared job with a phenomenal pay, or getting admission into the top MBA colleges in India for higher education, ‘geeks’ are the worst hit. Boggled down by the expectations to score exceptional, they study. And study. And some more.

Geeks are Gods. Or they are considered so. But are they really?

I remember a few average students in my class whose names had the notorious label hinged to them. Average students, I will say again. Just because they have their noses buried deep into books and stuff all the darn time doesn’t imply that they are some Greek Geniuses. They are, at most, hardworking and diligent, and perhaps way too serious for studies and the typical future-cum-career-stuff.

So while a college professor aired her favouritism for a ‘geek guy’ in my class last week, I was NOT taken aback. Yeah, teachers have their favourite student, that’s absolutely normal. But then when she reposed belief in him saying he would make it to the top b school in India, I was a little bewildered. Okay, being hardworking to score a 90% graduation is one thing, cracking CAT to get into top-notch colleges by making a slash through the cut-throat competition is quite another.

Geeks are NOT gods. They are human beings, average human beings rather who study aggressively in a hope to make through the cruel competition. There is nothing particularly exceptional about them, only that their behaviour, which is often a hazy portrayal, is often misconstrued as something as plain and extreme as ‘geeky’.

Nailing The Verbal Section

Management exams are mired in difficulties and challenges. Cracking CAT and other entrance examinations is no cakewalk; dig deeper into the nuances of these exams and the verbal section would stand tall on all the challenges.

Things are easily said than done. You study hard and you bell the CAT that, ideally, is the mantra. Sadly, with competition as cut throat as that witnessed in CAT and other management entrances, getting into the top B schools in India has gotten a tough nut to crack. Adding on to the pile of problems is the verbal section that gives students the dreaded jitters.

So the million dollar question is- How does one nail verbal without freaking out too much? We have a solution. Just read on!

•    Read, and then some more

If you are an avid reader, you have all the reason to rejoice in the world! Half the battle is won when you have literary, political or art work at the helm of your daily reading rituals. Verbal is all about taking the language English by the horns, and once you get into reading, the bull would not be that difficult to tame!

•    Work on Grammar

Grammar is a tricky area, but since you have jumped into the ring, let’s tackle this too. You can smoothen out the rough edges in your grammar by
a)    Reading. A lot.
b)    Conversing in English with your family members and friends.
c)    Looking out for grammatical errors in the write-ups you come across while reading.

•    Don’t mug up. Try to grasp the contextual meaning of the words learnt and incorporate them in your daily usage. This will you will get their meanings better without forgetting them ever. Also, take as many tests as possible. Practice, a lot, and you will find yourself sailing easily through it.