College Experiences - 2021 Edition

Despite the pandemic refusing to let the world out of its clutches, 2021 was a year full of changes. Be it entering this new world of ‘college’ after an online highschool, or seeing the campus and experiencing being away from home for the first time, or returning to the campus life that had almost gone out of touch, every student has their own unique story to tell. Whether it was life changing or monotonic simplicity, in between the online classes and the covid protocols, we had moments that defined 2021 for us.

Join the authors as they share their college life experiences in 2021. While few offer a reality check, others deliver an emotional ride. Either way, they are sure to give you a great time reading.

Table of Contents:

1. Just a minute from four years - Keshav Kumar (B-Tech 2021)
2. The Inception - 4v (B-Tech 2021)
3. Bunch of Smiles - Hiranmai (B-Tech 2020)
4. College Experience’21 - Shubham Ahirwar (B-Tech 2021)
5. O3: Online - Offline - Online - Anonymous (B-Tech 2020)
6. My college Experience -Reshma R (M-Tech 2021)
7. College Experiences - Arup Biswas (B-Tech 2021)
8. Tables Turned - Swathi (B-Tech 2020)
9. College Life - V Sathyanarayann (B-Tech 2020)

Just a minute from four years!

After all the stress and hustle of JEE, one would certainly have thoughts circling around on how life in an IIT (well, IITT precisely) would be. Join along with Keshav Kumar Manjhi in his jaunt of emotions as he shares his perspective on the transition.

Hey there! Psst. Just a minute. Mind to spare? Or maybe two? Well, as I'm writing this, I could just end it in thirty seconds, or one hour, for a tale of change could be quite a long story to tell or just a couple of phrases.

IIT- the great Indian Institute of Technology. It seems grand, isn't it? But once you're here, when you look back, it may feel that you could have done it better, maybe gotten a better branch of your choice, or a particular IIT. We didn't feel that way much during the JEE preparation days. Perhaps that is because we used to think of reaching here as a dream, a longing goal. But when we achieved it, we realized that it was doable after all. We could have done even better. But, what changed?

I was a bit social in my school days, and I believe I am even now. The preparation for the entrance examination had become a habit interwoven into the threads of my life,it became a routine... a necessity. Waking up, paying attention to coaching lectures, solving numericals all day, scratching my head over that one mind-boggling question for hours, above all that, even being hyper-active in social life and yet not being tired of it. Despite having so many issues,from personal to career-oriented to battling the disease of COVID-19, I somehow managed to juggle all of them and still make it here.

But then, what happened now? Why is it that even with less study and more free time, we're still stuck being relatively inefficient? Is it the times that have changed? Or is it us... something inherent in us? Are we genuinely privy to the unknown that has transformed, or are we just nigh to the truth but never knowing it?

When we came to college, we entered with the idea that the preparation days were over, and now we could rest. We, in a way, took refuge because we no longer have to work that hard, which is valid to some extent. However, we often forget that it wasn't just the preparation for an exam. It was a preparation for living in college life where you'd be trained to be overburdened already so that you wouldn't find the hectic college life of IIT as something out of the box or unknown to you. And the hesitation we feel when we enter a new kind of life is undoubtedly justified. A life where studies aren't the only thing, but now it's emails, activities, clubs, fests, events, and whatnot! Although it's not quite what we imagined it'd be because of the online semester, it is what it is. The only reason for students to like the online semester is ... ahem… ahem... the "unfair practices of self-help", but man oh man is that worth missing out on so much for!

This new life can be scary for us, but it's just a new set of unknown opportunities. All it takes is a leap of faith.

The Inception

Experience the emotions as the author - 4v walks us briefly through the anticipations, aspirations, and impressions freshers have as they embark on a new journey in their life.

Ever since the pandemic broke out back in 2019, life has never been the same. It has locked people in their homes and things got completely derailed from track. Carrying out the preparation for JEE in these times of turmoil was difficult. By God's grace, things went well, and I joined IIT TIRUPATI. Having joined this institute and yet again continuing online education (for 2 years) was not a sweet experience at all.

It was very tough to make friends with different cultures and ideologies, but over time; I found some companions that fit. Academics have been a bother owing to the semester being cut short. The syllabus is very tedious and a comparatively unique style of teaching from high school. It was an enthralling experience to have very accomplished professors to guide us. Having been confronted with a lot of confusing moments, I desperately wanted to meet my seniors and know their experiences. Just in time, an email arrived for the 'Konnichiwa' event, and the interaction guaranteed me of 'cool' and supportive seniors, which restored my confidence. I’m looking forward to making many more memories of my four-year journey with all of them (hopefully on campus).

Bunch of Smiles.

College is a part of life that you relive in your memories. How do you feel when you experience it for the first time, not to mention if it is after a very long grapple? Excited? Nervous? Anxious? The write-up Bunch of smiles by Hiranmai is one such word picture of emotions experienced while in college.

Bunch of smiles
Shine in eyes
Unique personalities
Unsettling realities
Yet to meet an acquaintance
But found no chance

Dense clouds hover
Until the day is over
Unexpected visits from dragonflies
Just as time flies,
Remembering the day we met,
It was incredible, I bet

How did I forget the canteen?
That's my answer to "Where have you been ?"
And the Neem tree spot
Meh! That's never my in pot
There's the entrance of CRC
It’s nice to hang out and see

It's been 2 months
And for a lot of reasons
It feels like a series
With lots of seasons
Stopped airing
But the reels are still rolling

We pretend it's fine
But couldn’t confine
We got a taste of hot chocolate
Now we want it again before it's too late
Together, we are desperate to come and chime
Just "One mail" we'll be there in no time

College Experience’21

Every change is a challenge, and challenges are exciting, aren't they? Shubham (the batch of 2021) had one such challenge, thanks to the changeover from school to college. Join him as he shares his experience.

“Finally, the suffering has ended. I am now free as a bird, and nothing can stop me. I will go straight to the campus and rock, and I will play cricket on the ground, chill with friends in the hostels, and roam around the city of Tirupati.” These were my thoughts before hearing the news that the first semester will be online. The announcement was a bummer. All the excitement went away, nevertheless, there was a hope that it would be fine. So, the orientation program happened and eventually the induction program, too. It felt pretty dull back then. I had many questions about college which I wanted to be answered by our seniors, but unfortunately, they were having their exams and were not available to address us. The first 20 days were very confusing. Mostly I was just sitting on the chair and watching lectures on zoom. I was also struggling with academics, but it wasn’t because the teachers were not teaching well; It was because of the uncomfortable transition I had from school to college. I had been waiting eagerly for the past two months to get into college, and here I was in college, doing all the assignments, watching lectures, texting with strangers I had just met and with whom I had to spend the next four years of my life with. This was not how I thought college would be because college is not all about academics. To be honest, I hated those 20 days.

But finally, things changed when seniors came into the picture. They somehow added the colors to the black and white life we all had been living in. They conducted various sessions to interact, resolve our queries, clear our doubts regarding academics. The best things were the orientation sessions of all the clubs. The excitement felt like it was coming back. When the news spread about the Tirutsava fest, I joined the marketing committee, which helped me in my personal growth. It was a whole new experience to talk to different students of various colleges. Seniors also took a session to record clips for freshers’ intro video. Now every morning, I woke up with a purpose, there was always something new on my to-do list. It felt more like college now. Also, as time passed, the strangers became friends with whom I now have movie nights during the weekends, the friends whom I can’t wait to see on campus. Overall, I would say that I feel way better than before every day. And I can’t tell now how excited I am to spend my next three and a half years inside that campus.

O3: Online - Offline - Online:

Want to know the genuine experience of a 2020 batch student? The concise and plain-spoken words from Anonymous are sure of conveying the reality (though disappointing sometimes) fortuitously well. The caustic sentences that are both relatable and satirical are sure to give a great read.

The Beginning: Nothing
The Middle part: Nothing yet
The end: still Nothing

My experience on campus:

The Beginning :

1. Standing in long-long queues for food.
2. Attending online classes even on campus
3. Irregular sleeping habits

The Middle part :

1. Standing in a queue is not a problem at all. Why? Because skipping the meal is better than the line.
2. Interesting mail threads.
3. We set sleeping habits to minimal conditions to avoid irregularities in sleeping conditions.
4. Engineering mechanics gave us the experience of offline classes.
5. Workshops are interesting with friends
6. Finally, Directors' meeting about returning to home
7. Last meet with batchmates
8. Again online classes

The end: Again, my experience in online classes

Beginning

Middle part

The end

Not sure if the loop ever ends.

My college experience

Are you curious to know about life on campus? What do you think would be the best part of being on campus: is it the quarantine life, post quarantine, picturesque sceneries, lively people, or something else? Reshma’s true to life article might help us get to an answer.

I started my journey to college on 28th November in the morning around 11 am. There were so many dreams, so many questions, so much happiness and eagerness running through my mind. My friends who went before my slot told me, when you come here you will get to know the beauty of IIT. With many things running in my mind, the car moving on the road and all my imaginations heading towards reality; I reached the college in the evening with heavy rain. After waving a hard bye to my parents, I entered the college and got a minute look at the campus before I reached the quarantine center. I got settled down in the room allotted to me; It was on the 3rd floor. The first expression of looking at the Mountain View was unexplainable, with greenery surrounding, and the campus looked so beautiful. My legs wanted me to go out badly, but I had to wait for 6 more days. My first campus look was a night view with heavy rain. I could see superb buildings, side trees on the roads. I loved the steps here and there, and Mountain View was the most exciting part of it.

The next day, all of my friends who got the same quarantine slot came to the block. I was seeing them for the first time after all the online modes of conversation. Everyone was so excited to look at each other. We started sharing little past, our talents, and our interests. Everyone is bound with their talents, sometimes their talks raise my eyebrows. As the exams were also nearing, we had little time to share everything. We got very close in a short period. After quarantine, we got our permanent rooms. We met all our classmates after quarantine; it was a very silent meeting. Our class girls are Sahitya (book reader, artist, good speaker, good attitude), Bhavya(dancer), Snehal(dancer, movie lover, jewelry maker, she cooks well; she keeps herself engaged, most interesting character), Sreeja(most courageous woman, helps a lot, she loves the dogs, BTS fan, intelligent, smart). Our class representative, Sairam, is a very active person; he helped a lot as a CR, and thanks to my friend Rajesh who clarifies all my subject doubts clearly. My birthday was celebrated by my classmates(friends) in the first week of December. As mine was the first birthday in the batch, it was very special. I am very much thankful to all of my friends for making it the most unforgettable. It was hilarious. Every day, our friendship was growing like anything.

Then we got a tight schedule for exams. We were very busy with preparation. After all of our exams were over, we started sharing all our wonderful experiences. Here we are, Bhavya and Sahitya and me. We became best friends. Sahitya is a nature lover. I loved her talks. We both used to roam the campus for hours; we have our special places on campus, where we forget everything and admire the beauty of nature. We love the evening sun close to the mountain and the night moon. The weather was too good in December. We got drenched in rain at times.

Apart from these soothing experiences. The IIT experience made us fearless, bold and gave us a can-do mentality. We met our professors, seniors; everyone here is like a family. A special thanks to all our professors, seniors who were guiding us even in their tight schedules. Here, everyone's eyes were filled with so many dreams and they worked hard for them. Whoever I met on campus has some uniqueness in some way or the other. Everyone is inspiring. Everyone is smart, bold, and has a selfless attitude. Hats off to all the IITians. Christmas and new year celebrations were unforgettable. I enjoyed them a lot. Every day I woke up with the excitement of knowing something new today. We studied in classrooms during this vacation. The CRC block classrooms are too good. I am excited to sit and listen to classes in those rooms if I am lucky enough. The days on campus were spent busily reading, chatting, going to the gym, playing shuttle, listening to music, and sketching.

Even though the days that we stayed on campus were fewer, we carried more sweet memories along with us, which always brings a smile to our faces. We laughed a lot. We miss the campus a lot, now we are dying to come back to campus soon. Let these wonderful memories continue…

College experiences

Most of us might be finding it hard to sit and watch our screens for such a long time. Some of us might also be contemplating their life choices. Arup’s article is one such experience that showers a light on the muddled emotions which most of us could relate to.

Well, college experience so far has been a bag of mixed emotions. There's the thrill of studying in an IIT and meeting fellow like-minded people who share your ideas, interests, making new friends, and quickly becoming accustomed to the concept of a community. Still connected even as we are far from each other, some thousands of kilometers apart. Many people, including myself, looked forward to returning to physical learning. Well, it continues to be another month of online learning. The online classes don’t have the same environment as those offline where everyone is in the classroom and where I could listen to the lecture in real-time, interact more freely and study. Sitting in the same room for hours in front of the screen is a drag. But, keeping everyone’s safety in mind, they took such action, and all we can do is to be patient and stay healthy.

After the first few days, I could feel that the semester would be a jam-packed one. There’s always this feeling that things are going faster than I could keep up. I close my eyes for a moment, and the deadlines almost skim by. Though being in a class of 200+ for every lecture, only a few interact. Introducing new languages and subjects was a wonderful break from the usual sciences. Aside from the academics, there was a fresher’s intro, meet-up with seniors, club introductions, a few competitions, and events which were a delight to be a part of and enjoy. Though it’s taking a bit of time to adapt to this new learning and pick up some new hobbies/interests, I hope it all works out.

Tables Turned

Being on the campus after more than a millennium-long online classes? It might be the best thing that could happen to a student from the 2020 batch. Here is the experience of Swathi during her time on the Campus.

From early to bed to late night walks
From online video calls to offline gang talks
From playing mobile games to playing tricks on friends
From taking screenshots to clicking candids
From lonely online life to a very huge friends circle From online birthday bash to offline cake smash
From watching movies on TV to watching movies in TC
From skimming through notes in the gallery to reading books in the library
From yummy, yummy home meals to lengthy, lengthy mess lines
From online classes to online classes
Tables have turned quickly. These online classes are not gonna be the same. With a heart full of cherishable memories, we return to our homes, waiting for our next call.

College life

Experiencing hostel life for the first time or the lively feeling of being surrounded by people after a year of staying at home. Sounds fun, doesn't it? Sathyanarayann’s got a good number of such memories from his time in the campus.

2021 was many things. It was a whole and complete learning experience. But the most defining experience of it was the first-time hostel experience. After spending a year at home confined to the four walls of your room and worshipping a flickering screen as your college, there it was, the most awaited mail, calling us to campus. Our struggle had paid off. All those emails and messages pleading with the institute to call us back didn't go to waste. The skies parted, and the mail dropped in our inboxes as a ray of sunshine. There was to be a quarantine and a covid test, but I was ready to go through anything just to get to campus. And there, in the campus, began the most defining two months of my life yet.

The most important thing that hostel life has taught me has to be about the value and importance of friendship and companionship. Having been a single child with very few close friends, being surrounded by people of the same age, who go through the same things, who I can relate to, at first seemed daunting and intimidating. I’m not gonna lie. And then I met the people I've gotten close to online over a year, and the conversation felt so natural? There was no awkwardness of any form, just two people talking, vibing, and relating to each other. And the trend continued even for people who I hadn't talked to online before. It was wonderful, being surrounded by people, having a lot of social interactions. For the first time in a long while, I didn't feel alone, and my usual state of solitude failed to satisfy me. After quarantine, the circle only expanded. There were more people I could spend quality time with. Be it going to the mess together, having breakfast, lunch, and dinner with everyone, walking around the campus at 2 am, getting a cup of coffee, playing badminton, or honestly, even sitting in silence and vibing, they were always there, and I knew I loved these people in my life and would do anything for them. Until college, I've never been able to appreciate the true feel of companionship, always having felt left out, like the friend that could be easily forgotten about. I looked at these people and I felt at peace. And when the exams came, they were there to help, to support me when I broke down because of getting overwhelmed. This is not to talk about just any friends who hang out with you, this is for those special few who have seen me at my worst, and have stayed, for those who stayed as a crutch for me to lean on when I couldn't bring myself to bother with walking. This is a thank you to those people who I know would be there for me. Despite it being just two months of offline college, you guys made this experience so much more special and dear to me. My college experience in 2021 was completely defined by and shaped by these friends and companions who have made my life so much more meaningful.

Then came the disastrous third wave. Omicron cases started pouring in, emails about CAB(covid appropriate behavior) started flooding in, and rumors of being sent back home flew. One fine afternoon, the dreaded meeting took place, and we were asked to leave the campus as soon as possible. Just like that, it started falling apart. This beautiful campus life I was getting used to was nearing its end. People started leaving, hostel rooms became barren, hearts grew heavier. Even though distance now separates us, I take comfort knowing that, when we go back to campus, I'll find my family there, right where I left it.

Paraphrased by,
Preethi and Sathya