• By Aniket Singh (Apple Inc, IIT Madras, Author of “Intern Abroad This Summer”) 

Remember that cousin whom you thoroughly can’t stand because of all the times your parents and relatives have compared the two of you just because she was a topper throughout her school/college years and has landed a great job at XYZ. Yes, been there, experienced that!

However, the fact that you are not a straight A student often has nothing to do with your mental capability. In fact, according to Malcolm Gladwell’s provocative book, David and Goliath, some of the most successful people in the world have struggled with dyslexia or have failed during their student years, just to be spurred by it to become something in their lives. Read on to get inspiration from these three super-achievers who prove that grades are not everything:

Richard Branson: The multi-billionaire is the epitome of working smart, being super-successful and enjoying life to the fullest. Virgin Founder Richard Branson, who is dyslexic, had to struggle through his student years. He was derided by his teachers for being lazy and stupid, and Branson dropped out of Stowe School at the age of 16. In 1968, Branson went on to start his first business, the Student magazine, and while it did not take off, this became the base of his business. Branson credits dyslexia for making him the great business magnate that he is today. In an interview to Bloomberg, Branson had said, “If you have a learning disability, you become a very good delegator. Because you know what your weaknesses are and you know what your strengths are, and you make sure that you find great people to step in and deal with your weaknesses.”

Quentin Tarantino: The cult filmmaker who has made some of the most epic movies in the world including Kill Bill and Pulp Fiction, never completed his education. Quentin Tarantino dropped out of Narbonne High School, California and found a job as an usher at an adult movie theatre. He also attended acting classes at the James Best Theatre Company and met a number of people who would later go on to act in his films.  However, throughout all this he followed his passion – movies. So deep was his love for cinema that Tarantino competed two scripts while working at the Video Archives. It was his debut film, Reservoir Dogs that catapulted Tarantino to fame.     

Vir Das: One of the most famous stand-up comedians in India today, Vir Das is a classic example of how success is never determined by how much you score.  The comedian barely scraped through his class 12^th board exams, but that did not stop him from reaching the heights that he has. Last year, the Bollywood actor and comedian posted his class 12 marksheet on Facebook and wrote a message for the students who were going to appear for their Board exams. Das wrote, “Whether your results are amazing or not doesn’t prevent your personality from being amazing. At the end of each day of your life people remember who you are not how you did.”

About the author:

Aniket Singh works for Apple Inc. in California, United States. He is also the author of “Intern Abroad This Summer”.

Aniket holds a BTech degree in Electrical Engineering from the IIT, Madras, Chennai, and a Master’s degree in Wireless Systems from Politecnico Di Torino in Torino, Italy. He has interned at the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom and Ecole Polytechnic Federale de Lausanne in Lausanne, Switzerland during this studies.

Visit him at www.aniketsingh.com

Check out his book at www.internabroadthissummer.com