People have unspoken expectations of you, expecting you to decide what you want to do with your future.
There’s just something about your early twenties where you just feel like you’re standing on a cliff and people are watching you, expecting you to jump into the sea. Your mind is racing all over the place- What if the water is too cold? What if I slip? What if the water is deeper than you thought?
People have unspoken expectations of you, expecting you to decide what you want to do with your future. And if you’re thinking of studying abroad, the choices of various countries can be overwhelming. Should I choose Germany? What about the UK? Maybe Ireland, that sounds nice? We treat these decisions like they’re permanent- a tattoo, permanent and unchangeable. But perhaps they’re like a haircut- sometimes they may be regrettable, sometimes transformative- but always grow back.
The Roadmap of Becoming
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Your twenties aren’t about having everything together; it’s about creating yourself. And in which country you decide to that matters a lot. Not because one country is “better” than the others, but because different countries offer different paths for you.
The whisper of structure and practicality of Germany, where every campus walk in autumn is surreal. Whether you’re dreaming about Munich or Berlin, both cities offer the same experience- science meets practicality. The college fees are cheaper than in most other countries' semester fees. Speaking the language isn’t learned for survival, but for experiencing the culture locally.
The literary lure of the UK and the dim lights of pubs, where every conversation feels like the start of a lifelong friendship. Where the accent is so precise that every sentence by any person feels like straight out of novels. In the country where past and present merge together, there might even be a building older than your great-grandmother.
Maybe Ireland- where everything feels softer, where the mountains themselves look like they tell stories. A country that hosts all the company headquarters, be it LinkedIn, Instagram, Apple….. the list goes on and on, but life still feels slow. Where being from somewhere else doesn’t make you stick out like a sore thumb.
If you see yourself in any of these situations, then the question isn’t which country is right for you. It’s which version of your life you prefer or see for yourself.
The Pune Paradox
If you’re a 20-something person debating whether to study abroad or not in Pune, maybe you’re reading this sitting in a café on Fergusson College Road, or perhaps you’re at the iconic Vaishali Restaurant, which maybe even your parents hung out at during their college days.
The city has something in its air, where thousands of people come to Pune for education. The number of students keeps increasing every year, and honestly, who would blame them? The way every café is packed on FC road during exam season, where deep philosophical conversations happen over a cup of chai. This city understands the students in their 20s more than any human could.
Here’s a little secret for every 20-something person reading this: Staying in the same city is just as brave as uprooting your entire life to another foreign land, and you shouldn’t feel nervous for choosing the second option. Courage lies in making a choice that feels true to you.
There’s still allure in studying abroad, right? When you see your old college classmate's stories on Instagram and think, “Oh, this person is also in the UK?!” When your younger cousin tells you that he’s planning to study engineering in Germany after boards, you feel that itch.
A Consultancy That Stands Out from All The Others
You may have walked down Fergusson College Road many times, with your friends, debating whether you should attend the next lecture, where there is peace in chaos. There lies an abroad consultancy that’s quietly changing the game for education, for the better- EduOptions Abroad.
Walk into their office, and you’ll feel the difference. They’re not trying to sell you a dream; they’re genuinely trying to mentor you to become the best version of yourself.
They don’t just ask you, “Which country do you like?” but “What’s your biggest fear about moving abroad?” and “Why are you interested in this course?”
They also have another office on Dhole Patil Road near Pune Station, the road where someone is leaving or someone just walks in with dreams in their eyes. In their office, where hundreds of students walk in nervously, yet with curiosity.
“Every student has come from a different walk of life with unique stories, and when you feel like you've heard it all, there walks another student with a tale that feels straight out of a movie”, says Shlok Agarwal, founder of EduOptions.
Shlok himself has studied in Germany during his early 20s, which makes EduOptions and his team different from any other consultancy, as Shlok's lived-in experience and his struggle in a different land. He understands and empathises with the students struggling during their twenties and guides them accordingly. EduOptions has sent 8000+ student abroad; they understand the weight of their guidance.
EduOptions has been in this game for 15+ years; they have polished and prepared so many students, they have turned half-baked student thoughts into university-accepted SOPs, and transformed parents' 3 a.m. doom searching about their child's education into visa documents.
Hear It from Their Students
Isha Phadke says, “They helped me through every step of the journey — from choosing the right university and submitting applications to handling visa documentation.
Their guidance was incredibly valuable. I always felt like I had someone trustworthy to rely on, which made the whole process a lot less stressful.”
Narendra Shinde says, “From the very beginning, everything was smooth and extremely well explained. The entire process, right from shortlisting universities to handling the application, visa, and documentation, was made so easy for me.”
Nikhil Chavan, who got introduced to EduOptions Germany through his friend, says, “Every doubt was cleared time to time and without any problems. Due to their guidance, my admission was confirmed. At the time of the visa, they helped me throughout the visa process, and I got my study visa in a very smooth process without any obstacles.”
Nikhil has been studying at the International University of Applied Science in Berlin since October.
One truly grateful parent, Sangram Khare, wrote this, “We are thrilled that my daughter has gotten admission in Ireland. EduOptions played an instrumental role in guiding us throughout the entire process. Their insights and knowledge helped us shortlist the perfect university that aligned with our academic interests.”
Additionally, they wrote how grateful they are for EduOptions' patience and how they answer their every query even during odd hours and weekends. Their daughter got the student visa within three weeks and is currently studying an MS in Artificial Intelligence at the University of Galway, Ireland.
Aarya Vyawahare, who has currently studying at Nottingham Trent University, England, since the fall, describes, “Eduoptions guided me very well throughout the process, right from university finalising to the visa form filling and visa application. I did not need to interfere and see if everything was on track. They took care of everything!”
She even recommended three of her friends who wished to study abroad about EduOptions.
Every student who walks into the EduOptions Pune office has pretty much the same experience- seamless, stress-free, and smooth.
The Untold Truth about Choosing
Here’s the scenario that plays out at the EduOptions office: their trained and experienced counsellors will sit down with you and your parents, and they will explain the entire process, even in Marathi, to your parents.
During the pre-departure session, they don’t just talk in technical jargon; they will teach students how to deal with homesickness, how to settle in quickly, and help them understand the local culture, how to cook dal in a country where nobody sells toor dal. They even help students connect with their former students who have settled abroad.
Shlok says, “Although we know there’s not one single simple brochure about studying abroad that fits every student, we want our students to be ready to face any challenges they might encounter; that’s how we conduct our pre-departure session. We don’t just want to sell you the glossy lifestyle that they see on Instagram; we want them to be prepared for the day-to-day life.”
The Romanticisation of Dreams vs The Reality of Planning
Your twenties lie in the middle of two roads; everything is possible, and nothing is guaranteed. Old enough to spread your wings, young enough to be terrified. Mature enough to make your parents proud, childish enough to make yourself happy.
EduOptions is waiting for you between those two roads; they’re not here to sell you unattainable dreams. Pune has plenty of those already. Remember that consultancy that promised you Ivy League admission with a copy-pasted SOP? Yeah… let’s not talk about that. EduOptions transforms “I want to study abroad" (a wish) into “I got admission for my dream course, and I’m leaving for the UK in October” (a plan).
There are thousands of tiny steps between a dream and a plan, from required documentation, applying for a visa, financial planning, loan application, university shortlisting, to accommodation.
Most 20-somethings are experts at the dreaming part, but stumble when it comes to a plan.
Why This Matters
If you’re a person in your early twenties, you’re currently in a very interesting window. Maybe some of your parents had studied abroad for their PhDs; maybe your elder sibling has gone to the USA for a very costly master's degree and came back with debt and a somewhat decent job. But this generation has so many options now- one-year master's degrees, affordable degrees, post-study work visas that actually work.
But you’re also living with too much pressure- the constant comparison with peers as they all keep stalking each other on social media to see who’s living better than whom, the feeling that everyone has figured their life out, and you’re the only one who’s “stuck”.
EduOptions Germany has been watching this scene play out many times. Shlok says, “I have seen so many talented student who walks into EduOptions so unsure about themselves, just because they feel they’re running out of time, just because their old classmate from 7th grade moved abroad first.”
With over 15+ years of experience and having sent 8,000+ students abroad, here’s what EduOptions has learned: the students who do best aren’t the ones with perfect grades and unlimited funds. But the ones who worked hard for their dreams, who are committed to their goals, and who choose consciously and intentionally.
The Leap of Faith
In the movie, The Worst Person in the World, the character, Aksel, was always worried about the wrong things in life, teaching us an essential lesson: the disasters we imagine rarely arrive. The ones that do come make us realise how uncertain things are.
You’re not failing if you choose Germany over the UK, or if you choose Ireland over both. You’re also not failing or behind if you choose to stay in Pune, building something. You’ll struggle because that’s what your twenties are for! Feeling stuck is a part of the curriculum. You'll make mistakes because that's how learning actually works.
But whatever you choose, choose it with intention. If you start the journey and focus on figuring out what you like instead of what people expect from you, you’ll be fine. Trust me, you’ll be better than fine.
If you decide to move abroad, EduOptions Abroad can help you with the unglamorous parts- the submission of documents on time, the visas that need persuading from different bureaucracies, the tests that feel like gatekeeping, but you know you have to take regardless. They have been doing this for more than 15 years; they know which universities genuinely welcome Indian students and which universities just want their money. They know which degree will work for you and which won’t.
But the magic lies with you. The decision to pursue your dreams, the choice, and the hardships that will come with it- that's the work no consultant can do for you.
If you come across this article, maybe you’re in Pune or maybe in a small town 600 km away from Pune, in your twenties, feeling that angst and the itch of wanting to see what’s out there for you. Here’s what we recommend you do:
Walk into EduOptions, and don’t just say, “Send me to any country; just send me abroad.” Instead, ask yourself What do I want to learn? What am I running toward or what am I running from?
Don’t ask them about your destiny; that decision is for you to figure out. Ask them how they can help you reach that destiny. And remember, your twenties aren’t about making the perfect choices. Whichever country you choose, there’s always going to be uncertainty; you’ll never know what will happen, but having the courage to choose it anyway. That’s the beauty of uncertainty.
Maybe the water will be cold. Maybe the water will be deeper than you thought. But you’ll never figure this out if you will just keep standing at the edge of the cliff.
