Disasters in life couldn't stop Chandan from becoming a Software Engineer

Chandan bravely stood determined, despite all the adversities life threw at him and transformed himself into a software engineer, for his mother!

Chandan’s life was not kind to him. From a very young age, he had been bravely facing the challenges that life threw at him. 

At the age of 15, Chandan had to face personal problems that affected not only his studies but also his life. This shifted his focus away from the studies as he was unable to handle the pressure from all sides.

If that was not enough, while pursuing his higher secondary education, he met with an accident. That led to the failure in the final year of higher secondary education. Chandan had to rewrite the exams of all the subjects he had failed in the 12th standard. 

But, Chandan’s miseries did not end there. Personal issues that originated when he was just 15 years old were getting even worse, rather than being solved. This influenced his studies drastically while he was pursuing his graduation. He could not pass the semester and was facing many backlogs. 

When Chandan’s life was throwing one trouble after another at him, he found some hope in Masai School. He joined the boot camp to end his miseries and find some stability in his career.

And, he succeeded. Today, Chandan is a software engineer at Tekion. And, all the darkness of his life has vanished. His story has a happy ending!

Chandan recently joined us to share his inspiring journey, so that young hustlers can learn from his story and set an example for others. 

How was your experience at your college?

Contrary to other people, my experience at the college wasn’t so good. While I was in the first year of B tech (CSE), I had some major personal issues that deeply impacted my studies and I was facing a lot of backlogs. 

I was very depressed and started drifting away from everything. Everyone from my circle, let it be family or friends, considered me as a failure back then. But, no one was aware of what I was going through. 

The only person who was with me, all the time, was my mother. She would prepare tea for me even at 3 am when I was studying at Masai School. She has always been with me, on my side, when the whole world was against me. 

How did you discover Masai School?

One of my friends, Sai Krishna, is an Instructional Associate at Masai School. Sai Krishna was my classmate during my college days. For personal reasons, he had dropped out of college. 

When I was clearing my backlogs, a friend of mine told me that Sai Krishna was earning 10 LPA. I was surprised to hear that. I was shocked and was unable to process how someone could get a high-paying job without a degree? Out of curiosity, I immediately called Sai Krishna and inquired about his journey. He explained to me everything in just one word, Masai School. 

I went back home and started researching Masai School. I gathered all the information and decided to join Masai. After clearing the MSAT in my first attempt, I joined the full stack developer course in Web10 batch on 19th April 2021. 

How would you describe your journey at Masai School?

My journey at Masai was great. The whole team was thoroughly supportive during the darkest days of my life.

During the course, a lot of personal problems engulfed me. I was not able to focus on my studies. It was again getting difficult for me. At that time, the mentors and the Instructional Associates were really considerate and encouraging.

Few of my friends from Masai were very much aware of my situation, and they were supportive too all the time. They used to pick up my calls even at 3 am and solve my doubts. I am glad to have met such amazing people.

Masai School gave me the courage to fight my situation. Masai School gave me wonderful learnings that will be useful for the rest of my life. 

It wouldn’t have been possible to get out of that darkness and fight it, without the helping hands of all these people. Masai has given me friends from all over India. And such is the culture here, that all the students help each other in solving problems and preparing for success. I have not seen such enthusiastic and supportive learners ever in my life. 

How would you describe Masai School in just one word? 

Guardian Angel. 

That is the most accurate description of Masai in just one word. This institute has transformed my life in a way I had never ever imagined. I never believed in angels before, but now I certainly do.

What do you think about the 9-9-6 curriculum of Masai School?

It is the best learning method I have come across so far. A lot of people out there, who are not a part of Masai School in any way, may think that this schedule must be exhausting for the students and the staff too. But, that is not the truth. 

In fact, I found the 9-9-6 curriculum very interesting and fell in love with it. It never felt boring or hectic. And, I am certainly going to use this method in future, when I get to learn new skills. 

What is the difference between the syllabus of Masai School and your college?

The syllabus of my college is completely outdated, to be honest. It is just not useful in today’s industry. Compared to that, Masai’s syllabus is compatible with the latest industry trends today. They teach advanced technologies which are required to land a job in good companies. 

Everything I was taught at Masai turns out to be useful in some or the other way at my workplace. Designing such a detailed and sophisticated curriculum is an achievement Masai School should be proud of. 

How has Masai helped you develop as an individual, apart from teaching programming?

The reason I can talk to you right now, and that too so confidently, is the growth I experienced at Masai. I was a shy person earlier. I used to avoid public speaking and was afraid to talk to people. 

The Skillathon sessions every day taught me crucial skills for life. That is where I got the chance to polish my communication skills. Plus, the everyday interactions that I had with Masaians helped me let go of my fears. I improved tremendously in speaking English with sufficient practice.

Initially, out of fear, I used to type my queries and problems to get them solved. But, after a few weeks, I was able to speak them out. 

I would have rated myself 1 out of 10 in communication before joining Masai, but now I’m definitely a 7.

Do you think the scrutinization that the students at Masai go through is really needed?

Yes, it certainly is needed. See, nothing is easy. Getting a job is not easy. Sustaining that job is not easy. Maintaining a work-life balance is also not easy. 

But, the tough training that we get at Masai School teaches us to balance all these things, along with upskilling every day. And, at the same time, Masai prepares us for jobs too. 

What projects did you take up during Construct Weeks at Masai School?

In Unit-2 we were assigned a project in which we were asked to create a clone of strawberry.net. We had just five days to complete the project. The deadline was 9 pm on Sunday. 

We started working on it from day one itself, but I was not able to focus on the project. I was not even able to sit in front of the laptop. Because my mother was severely ill and no one was there to take care of her. I was not able to explain my situation to my teammates. They thought that I was lazy and incompetent, and that is why I was not contributing to the project in any way. 

I was driving from 9 am to 4 pm from one hospital to another, carrying my mother for treatment. After that, I used to work on the project. After two days of doing nothing, on Wednesday, I completed my task of building the landing page overnight. Everyone was surprised by my productivity. From that point, I was able to focus completely on my projects.  

In Unit-3, I worked on the back-end of the same project with the same team. We completed that project in just three days. 

In Unit-4, I got an Async(unit repeat) due to personal reasons. There, I had to work on projects all alone. At that time, Dhaval Sir was really supportive, and his recorded lectures helped me a lot.

He listens to the queries of the students patiently. I will always be thankful to him as I also applied one of the learnings from his videos during my interview with Tekion. 

In the project of Unit-4 Construct Week, I had to work on the back-end integration of Google Maps to Hilton Hotels & Resorts. I received 8 out of 10 on that project. My friends were not able to complete the same project and approached me for help. 

These projects have made my GitHub portfolio strong, and I am glad that Construct Weeks exist at Masai School. 

How many interviews did you appear for during the placement process?

I was interviewed by two companies. The first company was Tekion and the second one was ZF. I was not selected in ZF because they had a criterion of hiring only graduates. Eventually, I was hired by Tekion. 

What was your mother’s reaction when you got the job?

All the hard work I was doing, I was doing it for my mother. And, she also knew about this. There was no one to support us. We were the supporters of each other, that’s it. 

So, when the hard work of months finally paid off, my mother burst into tears. She could not stop herself. She was really happy, and so was I. We both knew that the end of our miseries was near.  

What do you have to say about the people who call Masai School a scam?

These are stupid people. They have not been into Masai School and still bash this institute.

Masai School came to my rescue when I had no choice in my life. It turned me into a capable, confident and skilful individual. How can it be a scam? We should not be giving much importance to such people. 

What is your message to the students who are studying at Masai or want to join Masai?

Simply, follow the curriculum of Masai School. Complete all the assignments that are given to you. That is it. Do not worry about anything else. Do not even worry about placements. Just follow the instructions of mentors, stick to the curriculum and that is enough to get a job. 

A lot of students reach out to me on various social media platforms asking different questions related to Masai School and its methods. They are also worried because, at the start of a new unit, they are unable to understand anything. I assure them that within a week, they will be able to catch up with everything. It’s all about practice.

Many of them also get worried about the placement process at Masai School. I tell them to be chilled about that too. I ask them to focus just on upskilling themselves so that they can have an edge over others. Leave everything else to Masai.

How would you compare Masai School with other coding bootcamps?

My best friend had asked me to join Newton School before I joined Masai. He had argued that the curriculum and methods of Newton School are not as strict as Masai, and that will allow us to learn at our own pace. But, my argument was that one can not learn much and push yourself in a comfortable environment. Finally, I stuck to Masai School and he joined Newton School.

Cut to today, he got a job that pays him 5LPA and I have a job that pays me much more than that. That shows the difference between the methods and curriculums of these institutes. 

Now, I keep recommending my friends to join Masai School. Because it transforms an individual into something they themselves can not imagine. 

Chandan sums up by saying – “Masai is the bridge between failure and success, between scarcity and opportunity, and between darkness and hope. If one is willing to take action and give it their all, there’s always a light at the end of the tunnel”