First off let me introduce myself, I'm an undergrad from India, I'm doing engineering in biotechnology(I have one more year left to graduate) and I've dreamed of being a scientist for as long as I remember(I'm interested in doing research in the field of Neuroscience).
Too make the long story short, let's just say I haven't achieved anything even remotely impressive academically. I won't say I 'wasted' the past few student years, because I've learned a lot and I think I've grown as a person to a great extent. But like I said, academically I'm very weak. I've flunked a couple of subjects, my basics are poor and I have no research experience whatsoever.
Clearly, I didn't have my priorities right and TBH I've only been making excuses all these years, as to why I hadn't been working towards achieving my dreams. And I'm sick of it. I'm sick of playing a victim and not taking responsibility for where my life is heading. So yeah, not a long time back I decided to consciously strive to achieve my goals.
That should have worked right? You hear about how so many great people make a decision to change their lives and they DO! But not in my case. I was plagued with this one thought so bad that it paralyzed me to take any action and I got stuck in deep procrastination. That one thought was 'IT'S TOO LATE'!!
So my question now is, is it really too late?
Is it too late to become a scientist at some point in my life?
Is it too late to be able to get into a neuroscience masters or PhD program in a reputable institution(Say MIT)?
Is it too late to get into a masters or PhD program in a mediocre institution?
Is it too late to get into a masters program in a very very 'mediocre' institution?
Is it too late to save myself from being an utter failure and eventually a become a hopeless crack addict who dies in an accident related to a hammock and a pogo stick?
Having 'big' goals never worked for me, for some reason. But I always performed excellently(in high school) when I knew that a goal is achievable and realistic. It didn't matter if it was ridiculously hard, but I had to KNOW that it was humanly possible.
So I want to know where I should draw the line, given my current standing? I want a nice big goal, but not something that's so big that it intimidates me to the extent I shut down and watch reruns of 'Top Gear' all day.
I'd be extremely grateful if you guys could guide me through this. In fact I've wanted to ask this question on a reputable science forum for ages, but I guess I was too afraid of the answer. But now I don't feel as insecure as I used to. I guess I developed a relatively healthier perspective regarding career and life in general. I consider myself to be a pretty happy person, studying to be a scientist or not. But this has always, always been my dream. And it deeply resonated with me when Friedrich Von Schiller said 'Keep true to the dreams of thy youth'.
-Advaita
