Just Go With The Flow – A Decision Day Reflection by Krish Bedi, CS Class of 2030

This National College Decision Day, we spoke to Krish Bedi, a standout Scholar from the Class of 2030, about his first year as a Scholar, his college decision for the fall, and going with the flow of what life brings his way. Krish is currently working as part of Chicago Scholars’ Content Crew, and was recently chosen as one of the Scholars selected for the ATLAS Fellowship. Read on for his reflection:

“When you’re in the right place at the right time, don’t question it, just go with the flow. It’s quite unlikely that things will pan out exactly as expected, you just gotta go with the flow. Life always seems to work its magic someway, somehow. Just go with the flow.

Just going with the flow is an amazing philosophy to lead life by. It’s what I’ve tried to do during my senior year of high school, and I think it’s panned out quite well thus far. As I think back to a 10-month ago Krish, a Krish that was stiff, rigid, and closed-minded, I can’t help but be amazed at how much I’ve grown since then. I still remember walking into the Chicago Scholars office for the first time my junior year summer. I didn’t really know what to expect, but I had no clue what a pivotal role the place I was entering would play in my development throughout the next year.

‘When you’re in the right place at the right time, don’t question it, just go with the flow.’

Fast forward to the summertime. I’d now been a Scholar for a couple of months and was starting to find my bearings. I was exhausted. I’d spent the entire morning talking to school after school during the Scholars College Fair. My brain was overloaded with brochures and the growing pressure of making the “right” choice. It didn’t help that it was hot. I was dressed up, in a tight shirt and an even tighter tie. All I could think about was lunchtime, and the ice cream social that was promised afterwards.

Finally, while sitting with some friends I spotted the cooler. Ice cream, exactly what I needed. I walked up, opened it, and to my disappointment saw ice cream SANDWICHES. Not exactly what I had in mind. I jokingly complained to my friends, saying something about it being “fake ice cream”, when a staff member nearby overheard and laughed, pretending to be offended. She introduced herself as Morgan and we started talking, just casually at first. At some point, the conversation turned to me: what I liked to do, what schools I was interested in, what I wanted to study. I talked about probably pursuing finance, but that my true passion lay in something more creative: filmmaking. That’s when she told me she was the Associate Director of Marketing and that there was an open position for Scholars to join the team.

I applied. I got it. And since then, I’ve grown so much as a creative. I’ve gotten exposure into the world of advertising, a route I’m now strongly considering pursuing. I’ve gotten the chance to get paid doing what I love, something I didn’t even know was feasible at my age. I’ve taken the money from that job to build out my very first camera rig, and hope to use it to propel my creative career even further. The ice cream social was optional. I was just in the right place at the right time. And I went with the flow.

‘It’s quite unlikely that things will pan out exactly as expected, you just gotta go with the flow.’

I was recently sifting through old footage on my camcorder, and I stumbled upon the very first college application I submitted. Sunday, 10:16:32 AM, September 28th. I’m sat at the dining table with my mom, both of us hunched over my computer, reviewing my application to the University of Southern California for what feels like the twentieth time. We scroll through every section of CommonApp, scanning for typos like our lives depend on it. My cursor hovers over the submit button. “Muma, you do the honors”, I say.

USC was my dream school. With a major that felt tailor-made for me: The Business of Cinematic Arts. Only 55 people were accepted into this specific major every year. It was a one-of-a-kind education I could get nowhere else: the chance to pursue my dreams as a filmmaker with the stability of a top-tier business degree. It was a one way ticket to working in Hollywood and felt like a direct path to everything I wanted. So when I got in, I should’ve been ecstatic.

I wasn’t.

Because a month earlier, I had signed a binding Early Decision agreement with Pomona College. Full tuition covered. A decision that, at the time, felt practical. And now, it felt like it had cost me the opportunity of a lifetime. For a while, I sat with that. I replayed every “what if” I could think of. I even considered breaking the agreement. Eventually, I came back to the same idea I’d been trying to live by all year: just go with the flow.

So I did. A few weeks ago, I visited Pomona College for the first time and something shifted. It felt perfect. The people were open and easy to talk to. The campus was absolutely breathtaking. I sat in on an eight-person class called Jamaican Music Aesthetics and had the time of my life talking reggae for two hours straight. It was everything I had imagined USC to be in my head. But I wasn’t thinking of what I was missing out on by going to Pomona. I was fully present in where I was. By the end of the visit, any doubt sitting with me had disappeared. Pomona wasn’t a backup, I knew it was exactly where I was meant to be.

‘Life always seems to work its magic someway, somehow. Just go with the flow.’

I had done enough worrying about which school I’d enjoy the California sun from. Now, there were bigger fish to fry. Financial fish. Pomona College was giving a full tuition scholarship, but I still had to come up with about $20,000 for room and board. So, when I heard about ATLAS Fellows, a partner of Chicago Scholars (shameless plug) that gave $20,000 per year and multiple finance internships, I jumped at the opportunity. I submitted my application a week early and quickly heard back, inviting me to the second round of interviews.

As I read the email over, I got to the bottom, where the time and place of my interview would be.

Saturday, March 14th, 12:00 PM

Address: 444 W Lake St, 50th Floor

Huh. That’s funny. 444 W Lake Street. For some reason that address looked familiar to me. I remember seeing it somewhere for some event. Maybe for a school field trip? A networking event? I racked my brain trying to figure out if and when I’d been there to no avail. “Oh well,” I thought. “I must be crazy”.

Fast forward to the day of my interview. March 14th. I made my way over to 444 W Lake St and entered the lobby. Once again, that feeling that I’d been here before made its way back into my mind, but I chalked it up to nerves. The elevator slowly creeped up to Floor 50, and as soon as it opened, that’s when I realized. I wasn’t crazy, I had been here before. I had been to this exact floor of this exact building almost a year ago for my Chicago Scholars interview. About 15 minutes later, someone led me to where I’d be interviewing and I passed by the exact room I once sat in interviewing to become a Scholar. I took this crazy coincidence as a sign of good luck, and walked into that interview with my head held high.

I got it.

And now, as I write this today on May 1st, Decision Day, I know what’s next for me. To anyone considering becoming a Chicago Scholar, I cannot stress enough how much it’s changed me for the better. Opportunities I never knew existed have opened up to me. I’ve made meaningful relationships with mentors and peers alike. I’ve learned and grown as a person. My senior year didn’t go how I expected it to. There were moments that challenged me, frustrated me, and forced me to let go of things I thought were set in stone. And I know that won’t change. There will be hard days this summer at my internship. There will be moments at Pomona where I feel out of place. There will be uncertainty as I try to figure out what I want from my career. But through it all, I’ll always remember that I’m a Chicago Scholar. And I’ll always remember to go with the flow.”