on b.tech, fake dreams, and the life nobody asked for

engineering is a good path for some people. the problem starts when it becomes the answer before anyone has had time to ask the question.

in a lot of families, a b.tech degree carries a promise: stability, respect, a job that will make the risk feel justified. that promise is understandable. it comes from real pressure. but a safe option chosen without curiosity can still leave someone lost four years later, holding a credential they do not know how to use or whether they even want to.

college can teach tools. it does not reliably teach decision-making. so people borrow direction from parents, placement statistics, creators selling “freedom by 25,” or whoever sounds most certain that week.

the internet makes this worse because urgency sells. if you are nineteen and confused, a loud roadmap can feel like proof. it is not. most serious work takes years before you can tell whether you are good at it, and even longer before it becomes stable.

the answer is not to reject engineering or safety as a performance of independence. it is to ask better questions while there is still room to change: what kind of work can i stay curious about? what am i optimizing for? what would i try if nobody could turn it into a family verdict?

you cannot outsource those answers. people can advise you, fund you, worry about you. they cannot live the consequences in your place.