JUST START

I had this goal of getting a Master’s degree from abroad, specifically United States and I’ve been thinking about this before graduating but never really did something about it. To achieve this goal, the very immediate step that had to be taken was preparation of Graduate Record Examination(GRE) and I’ve always been very afraid of not being able to score enough in this exam. Since I’ve considered this tough for me, I never tried to prepare for it. In fact, I always quit even before giving it a try. I made excuses to myself that I don’t have time for it or that my immediate goal was not to continue study but to get a job. Now that I’ve already made a progress in getting a job, I know that GRE is next big step and could not ignore it anymore.
I could not quit on my goal just because of a test. Over thinking about it had just made the fear of failing greater so finally I decided to take the first step followed by a few more in the same week. Not my idea exactly but I was highly encouraged to do so by a fellowship program, Amal that I joined in the last month. So, I made a to do list that would help me to take and climb those first steps.

I made sure that by following my list, I won’t be stagnant at a point after one week but would be able to continue this until I achieve my goal or at least give it a try. The first task was quite easy. All I had to do was to get authentic and precise information about the details of this test. I googled it and asked some fellows of mine. That was actually helpful when I found out that I can also appear in mock test before giving a proper attempt and that would help me analyze me current situation. After gathering the sufficient information, my next step was to collect data. Google didn’t prove to be very much helpful here so I asked a cousin of mine who was studying in States. He provided me a lot of data in soft form and also recommended me to get Barron’s edition of GRE. I got a soft copy of that book too. I also contacted few other fellows for data but I did not find them of much help. But still, more than 2 GB of data in one day. So far so good. How good would It have been if just collecting that data was enough? Not good enough I guess.

Followed by the first two tasks, the most important one: managing my time to do at least 30 MCQ’s daily. I’ve had a really busy schedule for the past two months and my new job just started. Since I wasn’t working for consecutive hours at job and I figured that I had spare time during my working hours which could be utilized for this purpose. And that is what I did. I think all we need to do is JUST START and see where it leads us.
Be a doer instead of being a thinker. Its just a start and I’m already feeling this sense of accomplishment. I’m taking it slow right now but I’m also hopping that I would be able to continue this routine, no matter how challenging it becomes for me to manage it. And if I’m determined enough, I’ll certainly ace the test. Just need to reassure this by giving a mock test. And that would be my very next step. Wish me best of luck!

