In 2021, when most professionals of her age were focused on promotions, salaries and career growth, Aakriti Goel took a decision that left many around her surprised.He walked away from a corporate career, gave up a salary of nearly ₹30 lakh a year, and started preparing for the National Eligibility as Entrance Test (NEET).At that time, he was 30 years old.A year later, he secured an All India Rank (AIR) of 1118 in NEET-UG 2021 with a score of 676 out of 720.Today, the BITS Pilani graduate is in the final stages of his Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) journey at North DMC Medical College, Delhi, according to his LinkedIn profile.His story is not just about clearing a competitive exam. It’s about asking what success means and whether it’s always too late to start over.
When success has ceased to be meaningful
Goel completed his engineering degree from Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani in 2015.Unlike many of her peers, she was not interested in a conventional corporate path. She chose to work with startups, experiencing different roles and projects. Over the years, he built a successful career in Bengaluru’s startup ecosystem and eventually rose to a leadership position.By most measures, he had achieved what many young professionals aspire to. Yet something felt missing.According to the interview she gave in 2021, the work no longer felt meaningful. The salary, authority and professional growth did not provide the sense of purpose I was looking for.“I’m not a 9-to-5 person,” Goel said, explaining why he had often preferred smaller companies and unconventional roles to traditional corporate jobs.The turning point came after years of intense work.
A health crisis is a difficult question
For nearly two years, Goel devoted more than 14 hours a day to a health technology startup that he once considered his dream job.The workload eventually took a toll.He suffered from a hormonal imbalance linked to extreme stress and left his job shortly after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.What followed was a period of recovery. He spent time at home, practiced yoga, painted, and slowly regained his health. But once again, another question emerges.What next?He could return to the startup world. With his experience, that path remains open. Instead, he began to rethink what he wanted from the next phase of his life.
Find an old dream again
The answer came from an unexpected place.Goel turned to the Ikigai exercise, a Japanese framework often used to identify purpose and motivation. The process brought back a childhood ambition.“I wanted to become a doctor as a child. I was good at biology at school,” he recalled.Years earlier, he had chosen engineering over medicine. At the time, he did not regret this decision.But after spending almost a decade in the professional world, he realized that medicine was still the field that excited him the most.“After being an engineer for more than 10 years, I now know how passionately I want to become a doctor,” he said.The decision was clear, but the challenge was much harder.
Return to the classroom after a decade
In 2020, Goel had spent years away from academic studies.While physics and chemistry were familiar, biology was no longer part of his daily life. She started almost from scratch, watching free online classes and reconstructing concepts she had last studied in school.Preparation required discipline.He studied 10 to 12 hours a day and wrote more than 100 mock tests. At the beginning, the scores were far from where she wanted.“In the beginning, I got about 590, but towards the end, I broke the 700 mark,” he said. Ten months later, the effort paid off. His score of 676 secured an AIR of 1118 in NEET-UG 2021.Many people found the result hard to believe.Even his parents were initially surprised by the decision to leave a stable career and return to student life.
The question of age
One of the most common reactions to Goel’s story has little to do with NEET. It’s about age.By the time she completes her medical training, graduate studies and residency, she will be much older than many of her peers.That doesn’t concern her. “Age should not be a bar to achieve anything in life,” he said.“We tend to have more faith in the stereotyped belief that ‘what’s done is done’ and that ‘we can’t take our careers over again’. Or ‘we’re too old’. That’s not true.”For Goel, the problem is not how long the journey takes. It is if the destination feels worthwhile.
More than a career change
Stories about career changes often focus on risk. The salary left, the uncertainty ahead, and the possibility of failure.Goel’s story highlights something else.It raises a question that many professionals quietly ask themselves at some point: what happens when external success no longer corresponds to internal satisfaction?For her, the answer was not another promotion or a new company.It was a return to the classroom, a return to biology. And eventually, a return to a dream he had previously imagined as a child.Today, as she continues her MBBS journey, her path stands as a reminder that careers don’t always move in a straight line.Sometimes the most important step forward seems like the beginning.
