I’m the only one who thinks this through,
While everyone else puts me in a box or two.
They’ve got their rules, their limits, their norms,
But I see the world in a thousand forms.
Six years of school, not just four—
And they kept paying, kept asking for more.
"Finish when you're ready," they said, so kind,
But now, they’ve drawn a line in my mind.
A degree in hand, but the world won’t see,
They want me to settle for less than I believe.
They tell me to quit, to work for the wage,
But I’m overqualified to stay in that cage.
I’ve persisted, I’ve fought, and I’ve learned to hold tight—
Not for their approval, but because it feels right.
I don’t conform to their neatly drawn lines,
I live for myself, not their designs.
They say they can’t live my life, it’s too much to bear—
Too busy to fight, too lost in despair.
But look at Chris Gardner, no path paved ahead,
A homeless dad who now moves with the thread
Of a dream he refused to let go,
Like me with my code and the future I know.
Elle Woods didn’t need to be told,
She went to Harvard Law, bold and uncontrolled.
My dad, too, had a brother in his heart,
Wanted IIT from the very start.
We all said “no backup, just one way”—
We’ll take the road less traveled, come what may.
They can judge, they can criticize,
But we’ll stick to our goal, no compromise.
For the envy is ours, it’s not in the fame,
But in the strength to keep walking the same,
Against every obstacle, we rise and stand tall,
Not for the world, but because we choose it all.

The weight of their words, a silent storm,
In a world that’s been cold, I've tried to transform.
A year on my own, with no place to belong,
Teaching the keys and coding the song.
Unemployed, they said, just get by,
But dreams don’t fade, they rise to the sky.
At thirty, they thought I was past my prime,
Told me to stop, to give up the climb.
They whispered of jobs, without care for my heart,
Just a wage, just a task, just a place to start.
But they didn't see what was brewing inside—
A fire that was waiting, a spark to collide.
They said I was old, too tired to dream,
But I knew I was more than the words they’d deem.
In the silence, I learned and I fought,
Turning code into something I sought.
They were vague, they were cold, with advice so blind,
But I didn't need them to define my mind.
For the truth was clear in the work I had done—
I was learning, evolving, becoming someone.
And though they didn’t believe, I knew it was true,
The skills I had built, the things I could do.
In the quiet of doubt, I found my own voice,
And turned all their noise into a powerful choice.
So let them stay vague, let them stay blind,
I’m crafting my future, and I’ll leave theirs behind.
For this year of struggle, of testing, of pain—
Has birthed a new me, and I’ll never be the same.