When I was in class 7, our mathematics teacher asked our class which stream we would like to pursue in future. Some replied arts and others science.  I simply replied science mainly because my friends chose the same. Afterwards, I began to wonder why none of my classmates opted for commerce as a career choice. So one day I asked my friends why people usually did not prefer commerce. Some replied it is hard and others replied only brilliant students go for it. This conversation affected me deeply and challenged me to firmly decide to take up commerce as my choice of study. I always wanted to be different from others. Now when I recall their answers, I should say that they were quite ignorant. I thought hard and made a quick decision.

So it turned out that I took up commerce as my subject because none of my friends preferred it. However, this also increased my curiosity to know what commerce is all about and what made people fear taking it up as a subject of study. Moreover I loved mathematics and I heard that commerce is usually concerned with mathematics. So, when I shared my thoughts with my parents and relatives, they were so shocked and asked me what aim I had that made me pursue it. I didn’t reply anything at that time and instead tried my best to avoid them. To be honest I didn’t have any aim at that time.

I blindly joined commerce, quite aimless and with great fear. At first, I found it difficult to learn the subject because it was different from what I expected.  I thought it would be purely based on mathematics.

It was only after I joined this stream that I became aware of the abundant career opportunities. I also learned that there was much more packed inside the meaning of “commerce” as a subject of study, which many of us are not aware of, unless the concept is broken down and taken up individually.

Very soon, I started loving the subject. I figured out that being a commerce student has its own personal advantages too, as the study provides an idea on how to achieve greater financial security and hence a secure future. Of course, it does not come that easily. Like the science stream, the student also needs to have a certain aptitude and put in a lot of hard work in this field of study to reap the entire benefits.

The important thing is to not let our socio-cultural environment or our narrow mindset inhibit our hidden potential. After taking it up as my subject, I realized there was nothing too tough or hard and absolutely nothing to fear in studying commerce. My initial fears about commerce were brought on because of the mindset I had been made to believe.

While pursuing the study of commerce, I acquired knowledge of business and trade, nature and fluctuation in market, basics of economics, fiscal policies, industrial policies etc. I also learned that the concept of commerce consists of a wide range of interdisciplinary branches including accountancy, business administration, E-commerce, finance, economics and marketing etc. My initial understanding of commerce as mostly dealing with mathematics was quite different from what commerce actually is.

Commerce is a versatile subject with many other professional diploma, degree courses and career options available to the student after Class 12. Some of them are B.Com, BBA, BMS BBM,CA, ICWAI etc. Career options include banking, management, accountancy or private enterprise etc.

Today, the importance of commerce has increased manifold, its subject knowledge indispensible to every field and profession. As a teacher of commerce my advice is that we sometimes need to go beyond our comfort zone to grab the opportunities before us and fulfill our dreams. No subject is hard if you work hard at it. My own experience of choosing commerce has taught me this. Taking up commerce as my subject was my own decision, and I am glad and grateful that I made the right decision.