The Unfinished Resume

You may know by the heading what I'm about to write — it's my version of jack of all trades, master of none. Why mastering one?

I failed at JEE. I failed at being the topper of my class. I failed at sports. I failed at trading. I failed at coding.

Not dramatically. Not with a story worth telling at a dinner table.

How it started

I was in 12th standard in 2021, amid COVID. I was talking to my girlfriend — we were in the middle of a fight — and then she said, "I don't want to be with someone who doesn't have any goal in life, like what he wants to do after school."

I felt so bad. Why don't I have any goal? What do I want to achieve?

After that day I started searching for what I wanted to become, what I should learn and study, and how to set goals in life. As a nerd, I googled "tell me some careers/streams one should pursue after 12th" and got suggestions: doctor (but I'm from the Maths science stream), CA, BA, BALLB — and Engineering, which caught my eye.

I read about big tech leaders: Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Satya Nadella, and Sundar Pichai. I got fascinated — one thing about me is I get motivated too easily.

JEE and the drop year

I searched for the best colleges in India for Engineering and found that IITs are the top colleges for B.Tech. And how do you get into them? By fighting with JEE.

I was still in 12th but also preparing for JEE. I filled the exam form, gave my first JEE Mains exam — it was pretty nice and I got 66 percentile. I was happy; that was good for a first attempt.

In 2021, JEE was held four times. Here comes the interesting part: my percentile degraded with every attempt, and I got 30 percentile in my last (4th) attempt. I gave MHT-CET too — not good marks there either.

After 12th I took a drop year for preparation (2021–2022), took a course from Physics Wallah, and thought I'd crack the exam. I appeared for a 5th attempt — nice, but my percentile was lower than the previous year. My last attempt still scored low. I was also preparing for MHT-CET.

Trading

Amid all this I got introduced to trading. Crypto trading became one of the best moments of my life — I learned how to trade cryptocurrency, coins, meme-coins. I invested time learning charts and patterns. I was pretty good at trading sometimes, making good profits, but big losses covered them so I often closed at break even.

I started trading a lot — 10–12 trades a day, small profits, small losses, sometimes getting liquidated. I got anxiety. I was enjoying trading (I still do), but I ran out of funds and stopped. Whenever I have capital, I still trade.

I also learned stock market basics and option trading. The market only rewards patience — in the stock market, money flows from the impatient to the patient. I didn't have patience at that time. I'm still learning, and you have to pay a fee to the market for learning — I'm talking about losses.

College

Last months of 2022 — JEE last attempt results (didn't make it). MHT-CET result was good, but your MHT-CET marks don't count if you're outside Maharashtra. Everything felt shattered. I cried in front of my parents for the first time — shivering, fever, everything. But my parents were always there. They said don't worry, there is always a way. I calmed down.

This is the beginning of a new story. I took admission in a tier 3 college in a tier 3 city. First day of college I was already late for my first class. People were talking about the fresher's party the next day, and I had to shift to a hostel that same day — so I didn't go.

Coding

2023 — I made some friends at college and hostel. I started learning how to code. Started with C, did some small projects. Then I saw a reel on Instagram about a full-stack developer course — a 5-day bootcamp for ₹100. I enrolled.

The bootcamp started. I learned HTML and CSS. I was so happy building my own website — that was fascinating. I enjoyed learning and building projects. Then the tutor said take the full course for more money. I purchased without thinking (borrowed ₹6K from my sister for 3 months).

I was learning web development — HTML, CSS, JavaScript, frameworks, tools — making small projects. After about a month, the tutor scammed the whole batch. There were only incomplete recordings left. I learned something in web development, but I always think: if I had continued, maybe I'd be working somewhere or have a good portfolio. I didn't. I switched to something new. Switching became my hobby. I wanted to learn everything at the same time — and ended up doing nothing, only thinking.

Then I researched YouTube channels to learn React, completed a whole playlist over months (not consistently), built small projects — one of them is a blogging website still incomplete till date.

DSA and AI

I heard that for getting a job in big tech (FAANG) you have to learn DSA. I started DSA — arrays, stopped for a while, started arrays again. It was a never-ending loop. Some LeetCode questions, becoming consistent, then stopping again. Then starting once more — now I'm at linked lists. DSA feels like something I'll never complete, even after death.

Then I got to know about Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. I started learning Python, data analysis, data visualisation, and machine learning. Still learning.

X (Twitter)

In 2025 I started using Twitter (now X) again. I had an account from 2021 when I was trading crypto. I started my main account imPU23 — the username inspired by Virat Kohli's imVkohli. I started spending time on X, reading tweets, and learned you can get paid for tweeting.

I purchased X Premium on 31st January. I got verified — a blue tick. I was happy because this time I wasn't only thinking, I executed something. I started learning how to build your brand online, getting reach, staying updated on AI news, trying new posting formats.

My account was growing — first 100 followers made me so happy. Hitting 100k–450k impressions in a day. I was learning patience for the first time in my life.

Then one day I got a notification — an email saying my X account was suspended for violating rules. I submitted an appeal and waited. Nothing happened for a week. I started once again from zero with a new account: imdevPU23. In two days: 80 followers, 20k impressions, hosted a Space with 100+ people joining. I was happy.

The point

I was thinking of writing this article for a long time, and now I am.

My whole point is: start learning new things, start executing things you think about — it feels so nice when you're doing the thing you once only thought about.

It's okay to master none. No one is the master of any skill — they are still learning and figuring out. But don't only think about starting new things. Just do it.

This is my story of being that Jack. The failures, the random wins, and the part where I'm still figuring it out.

Thanks for reading — this was my first writing.

~ Priyanshu