Hey there!
First, I’d like to ask you, what were your criteria for a good college when you freshly graduated from school? Was it in terms of how beautiful and enormous their campus is? Was it in terms of the high-salary packages and placements? Was it the opportunities you’ll get to refine your secondary skills? The chance to meet amazing people and get exposed to diversified mindsets and opinions? Or like me, was it a culmination of all the above?
I am one of the millions of Indian students who were constantly fed in their XI-XII that if you fail to crack JEE and get into an IIT, or even an NIT or IIIT, you won’t be successful in life.
That’s a lie.
But you see, a lie, when told long enough, starts seeming to be the truth. And so, over the course of 2 years, I too started believing that this was true. In 2020, I appeared for my JEE exam, and when I failed to crack it, I was devastated. I knew that I didn’t study as a serious JEE aspirant would. I knew I could do better. So, I decided to take a drop year.
Now, for those of you who have taken a drop year at any stage of your life, you know it can be a whole story in itself. So, long story short, I failed again. My score saw a massive improvement, but it wasn’t enough to secure a top engineering institute in the country.
So I did what most students do, at this juncture.
I swallowed my pride and took admission in a private college.
Now I was brought up in Haldia, which is a small port town in West Bengal. My college, in Kolkata, is roughly a 4-hour journey from my home. Having studied in Haldia since childhood, I desperately wanted to leave this state. No hard feelings, I just wanted a new experience. I had my parents’ blessings for it, upon the condition that the college had to be a top institute.
So, somehow I found myself in a college I didn’t like and in a city, I didn’t want to be in. The first semester was mostly online, although colleges did start opening up toward the end of 2021. So when I received the mail that my college was soon going to open, I wasn’t particularly happy about it. I realized that I haven’t completely healed from the trauma of not clearing JEE. But life had to go on, right?
So, first up on the agenda list:
Where will I stay? Funnily enough, owing to the small campus grounds of my college, it only provides hostel accommodations for girls. So my friend(who also studies in the same college) and I decided on a date to go for PG-hunting. We went about asking around, and ringing phone numbers from flyers on walls. I don’t mean to be gender-biased, but I feel there is this false assumption, especially amongst the accommodation givers that when it comes to guys, they don’t care about sanitation and spaciousness, for some of the rooms we saw were dreadful. Somehow, after an entire day of searching in the sultry October heat, we were able to secure a more-than-satisfaction PG for ourselves.
Now, next up, on the agenda list:
Moving out.
Now regardless of whether you are excited about starting this new chapter, or like me, have mixed feelings about it, leaving the safe and familiar environment of your home and stepping out into the world, is scary. So when that day arrived, I realized something: I won’t be living here anymore. And if and when I’ll do, I’ll only be staying temporarily, as a guest. Starting today, I was going to be responsible for myself. I mean, I always was, but from now on, even more. My mom and dad helped me to set things up nicely in my room. When it was time for them to leave, my father and I hugged each other, putting our male egos aside. I hugged and kissed my mother. “No cigarettes, and no drinking,” she said, and I nodded responsibly. And when I bid them goodbye, I most certainly had a tear in my eye.
Next up, on the agenda list:
Settling in.
I knew I was in a city I didn’t want to be in. I was in a college I didn’t like. So I knew settling in would probably take much longer than expected. But I promised to be patient and gentle with myself. I did not experience ragging. I live in a PG which, surprisingly comprises students studying in the same year as me. My college does have a strong anti-ragging policy, which, I’ve come to understand aren’t just mere words. On campus, students strongly withhold the policy of no ragging. I made a few friends, though the bond was mostly academically constrained. The mess food is not that great, and you can’t Swiggy every day. But I have realized over time that mess food is only for survival, and not for nutrition. And as the college resumed operating fully, I gradually integrated myself into this new lifestyle…
Currently, on the agenda list :
Trying to make the most of where I am and what I have.
A good college gives you a headstart and a rich network which help you tremendously in your career. That being said, in this day and age, there’s no reason not to believe that you can’t achieve success just because your college isn’t that good. I’m in my 2nd year, pursuing Computer Science and Engineering. I want to make the most of where I am and what I have, both personally and professionally. Schools and colleges are communities, and a community is only as good as the people in it. So I’m looking forward to meeting and interacting with some amazing people!
Thank You for going through my story!
Regards,
Jyothi Swaroop Makena.