Loved literature. Was steered toward UPSC by relatives. Wrote it twice, didn't clear, found teaching instead.

Repeated UPSC attempts can hollow you out if you are not careful. Pivoting felt like giving up at the time.

Failure has only as much weight as you give it. The career change I feared became the career I love.

Literary criticism, academic writing, debate, tutoring younger students

B.Ed. internships at two schools. Realised that managing 40 thirteen-year-olds is harder than any thesis.

Stipend was negligible. Family doubted the timing of yet another degree.

Teaching is performance, planning, and patience in shifts of 40 minutes.

Lesson planning, classroom management, child psychology, micro-teaching

Five years teaching grades 8 to 12. Took on debate, school magazine, and the dramatic society.

Salary stagnated in year three. Watching peers buy cars while I budgeted for books.

Teachers who survive are the ones who keep one small project that is not paid — that is what protects the love.

Curriculum design, examination panels, parent communication, mentoring students

Switched schools for a department-head role. Now leading 11 teachers and rewriting the curriculum for grades 6 to 10.

Less time in classrooms, more in meetings. Learning to fight for budgets without losing the room.

Leadership in education is mostly protecting your teachers so they can stay good at the actual job.

If you can, teach for at least seven years before becoming an administrator. Otherwise you forget how it feels.

Team leadership, curriculum reform, mentoring new teachers, parent council, examinations board