We had the opportunity of interviewing Kumar Divya Mani, an alum from Galgotias University in Greater Noida, India about: Balancing Life
Here are some of his qualifications:
a machine learning facilitator at Google until 2019
former leader of the robotics club at Galgotias
current trainee at the MIT & IDSS Applied Data Science Bootcamp
and upcoming affiliate alumni of MIT
Here are some important words he shares
"I'm confident that the height of a person is measured by his intentions."
"No matter what, there's always someone in much worse condition than you and yet they're doing better than you"
Q: Have you always had a passion for science and technology? Or did you jump around a bit before settling?
A: I love engineering. I think it's nothing less than sorcery. Imagine having the power to create, design, and implement your imagination. Impressive.
Q: What is one of your proudest moments in life?
A: When I look back at my life, I see that I've come surprisingly far in an even more surprising way. The environment was not right. The teachers were not good. I had no friends. But I didn't give up. I kept believing I wasn't a normal child. For a kid who was unable to find the area of a triangle; to start modeling the real-world phenomenon using math, I think he has extraordinarily come a long way. It's the only thing that makes me proud.
Q: How do you balance your health, work, and social life?
A: It was perfectly imbalanced until sometimes ago. I usually wake up early at 5 AM and exercise. That helps me get a boost and a fresh mindset to start the day. Then I follow my schedule and do work accordingly. I usually prioritize the task for each day using an app. It really helps to keep track of my performance.
Q: Did you ever find time to develop soft skills? (emailing, resume-building, personal finance, etc.)
A: I didn't professionally invest time into it. I think these things come up naturally and over time. I watch movies, read books, magazines, news, and TV shows. Maybe all that helped.
Q: Are you more of a multi-tasker or do you stay focused on one thing at a time?
A: It depends. But most of the time I pay primary heed to one thing and less heed to the remaining ones. I usually evaluate it by using the Eisenhower matrix.
Q: Whenever you felt like giving up, how did you get yourself motivated again?
A: I ask myself why did I start that? Usually, that helps me get back to it; else, I re-evaluate it by asking appropriate questions.
Q: Do you have anything else you would like to add? Any final words of wisdom?
A: I'm confident that only cities are small, not the people from there or their dreams. I'm confident that the height of a person is measured by his intentions. I'm confident that if you believe in yourself then the world will be yours!
You might find numerous people criticizing you. The way you walk, the way you drink, the way you breathe each might come under criticism. When that happens just believe in yourself that you're doing good, that you can do great! Eventually, you will.
You may also realize that the environment around you is not good, that you're in some tarnished societal structure, that you're not capable. No matter what, there's always someone in much worse condition than you and yet they're doing better than you. Let that sink in.
Learn more about Kumar and his experience on his LinkedIn account.
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