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In this 32nd edition of As We Leave 2026, Nikhil Kumar Sharma ,a Y21 Dual Degree student from the department of Mechanical Engineering looks back on his six years of growth, uncertainty, friendship, resilience, and self-discovery. From early struggles and unexpected turns to meaningful successes and lasting memories . More than a recollection of college life, this is a tribute to the experiences that leave a lasting mark on us, and a reminder of how far determination, courage, and a little luck can take us
Disclaimer:- The views presented below are the author’s own and are not in any manner representative of the views of Vox Populi as a body or IIT Kanpur in general. This is an informal account of the author’s experiences at IIT-K.
Disclaimer:
To the readers – this is simply a journal entry kind of thing. Totally not aimed at you. I know that a very small subset of IITK people – some juniors, some batchmates and very, very few seniors – pay attention to this. Some learn from this, some appreciate our journeys, and some are proud to see us where we are. But most of us who are writing this, are pretty much just reminiscing and sad about leaving. So this As We Leave is, maybe you will realize it as you read through, a note to myself. Written such that down the line, if my future self feels vulnerable, it gives him strength. And up the line, if by some miracle someone stumbles on the process of displacement through time (physically or cognitively), my past self can read this and understand that I made an okay-ish future for him. A future that might have been the somewhat best possible anyway. And this note will start with something most of us are afraid of – telling people what you are vulnerable about.
FROM YOU, 6 YEARS AGO
I am a Dual Degree Student. I have spent five years (technically four) on this campus. But it was 6 years ago that the real cogs started moving. 12th standard, everyone is focused on JEE like a bull focused on a red cloth. Me? Not so much. And surprisingly, my own coaching was not focused on me either. It was only in the last 4-5 months that I actually got serious. But that isn’t enough is it?
Introducing Lady Luck.
“Being a reserved quota student is not something to be vulnerable about” is what friends say when you trust them with this information. Little do they know. I got enough rank that I could have been in CSE right here at IITK. I did not choose it because I knew where I could or could not survive. And why do I say I was lucky? Because I was planning a drop year and I would not have been a reserved student the years after. I’m lucky I landed here of all places.
Anyways, I think I pretty much used up my luck that time, because that first online semester and that second hybrid semester really showed me up. Finishing with a 5.7 and 5.9 in them was humbling. But, as all first-years, I was hopeful. I had, after all, used up the last of my luck on finding a GOATED roommate, a GOATED wing and another few good friends, who kept my spirits up. I had also become an Academic Mentor for ESC101, and I was at least in an okay state.
Not for long though. Soon enough, someone called me to personally deliver the message that my CPI was wrongly considered, and I was no longer an AM. That one good event of my first year? Up in Flames.
A DIM LIGHT AMID DESPAIR
I think anyone reading this would know that this dim light could only be a Club. Whoever was the genius who came up with the idea of clubs deserves everything the world has to offer.
I joined two clubs in my second year. One was a target since the first time I heard about it – Anime Society. Attended all their events, made good with the seniors, and joined after a boring 10 minute interview. The second, I was so reluctant to join, was the Fine Arts Club. I thank that someone certain who pushed me to join it on a random rooftop at 2 AM. These places practically made half of who I am today. 10/10 would one hundred percent recommend. As a matter of fact, I joined Antaragni too. 6/10 but would still 100% recommend.
The seniors I met, the batchmates I made friends with, and the actual stuff I did was all so much fun. I never knew that so much of anime came from real life stuff. Could have never thought that gifting dead mosquitoes makes such good friends. Design is actually a hard thing to do – would never have crossed my mind. And by some miracle, I was able to manage studying in between all these things. I started getting better grades, and I started getting better with people. Even got an internship for the summers. Win-win to be honest.
The whole year just taught me one thing – Resilience. As one of my all time favorite quotes summarises it:
“No matter how many corpses you have to walk over, there are still things that must be protected”.
You cannot change what has happened. They are the corpses your own decisions created. But your place in this world, your confidence, your ambition – you have to protect it. YOU MUST BE RESILIENT IN THAT.
PERFECT GAME
Three is a pretty unique number. It somehow holds significance in every single person’s life. A lot more than many in mine. The third semester is where things started taking shape, and the third year was where a lot of it came together.
Third year is where everyone is running the summer internship race. Some are already way ahead, and some [like me], try hard. Acads get harder, especially when you have 3 other things to study just to get an internship. Test after test, interview after interview. All kinds of emotions fill us. It is on us ourselves to not let these things get the better of us. After all, Internship is just one of the 3 things you have to manage this year.
Coordi year. AniSoc was more than I had thought it was. Huge respect to the seniors who made it look effortless. So much work – planning, finance, managing everyone – and looking back, it feels like none of it was hard. Of course, the reason was my fellow Coordinators – Prasoon, Shabadpreet, Tanya – and some kids that I proudly now call my own kids, made it all work out. It was this club that kept me associated with two other very important things from my second year – Antaragni and Fine Arts. Being the first ones to induce a whole event in Antaragni is harder than it sounds. AniCon was somehow received well by the heads, and we [Prasoon and Shabad primarily] did a great job at making it happen. Fine Arts gave me more important people in my life, even if some of them do not talk to me anymore.
In an overall sense, the title is what this year was. I got to the highest CPI I have achieved till date, and I kind of did everything I wanted to do. Managed all of my club work pretty well. However, a perfect game does not happen so simply. If the section headings form a pattern for you, you will understand that a Perfect Game requires one to face pain and still do the needful. That is the curse of perfection.
Note to my past self: I got an internship. Do not worry, I won’t let you down so easily.
MEMORIES OF THE FUTURE
It is this point of my college life that I feel is the defining point of my life. And it was all, based on a bad dream I had. I am not a believer of dreams and their significance to be honest. So imagine how bad it had to be for me to change everything that was going to happen hereafter.
What am I talking about? My conversion to Dual Degree. I was in mortal fear that what I had come to accomplish in this college was not gonna happen if I sat in placements my fourth year. So I converted. Without any plans on how to move forward, no discussions and no validations. How did it fare? Well for the second time –
Introducing Lady Luck.
Turns out I still had stuff to do in this college. I got the opportunity to live in Hall 1 (after a lot of papad belna), with my close wing people. That was the most important part of this college life – to be near the people who are about to leave soon and might never be seen again. And I also got to be part of the Managing team of Inter IIT Sports Meet 2024. Being a head of something of this scale is a taxing job. Even though it was in December, half of our odd semester was spent working for it. I personally could not help my wingmates with their placements as much as I wanted to. Something I feel bad about till date.
But the view from the stage when everyone is enjoying something you made happen, is one of the best feelings one can have. That Gala Dinner made me full. I had done all I could have on this campus. I still wish my college life could have ended right there and then. I would be satisfied. But of course, that one bad dream.
As much as the next semester was slow and boring, we still enjoyed it. Trips, Concerts, anything that we could do together, we did. Maybe that is why the last few days were the heaviest. Some of the closest people, leaving. We cannot just enter any rooms and chat the whole night away now. No more wing parties, no more random walks and no more sneaking onto unknown terraces. It just all ends on a random Saturday.
A LONG DREAM
This fifth year is a small thing. Thesis kept going slow while I procrastinated studying for placements. Still got a decent number of interviews. The last few days before Day 1 were a nightmare though. I can still recall shaking 2 hours before Day 1.1 because I drank 4 cans of Monster. I could recite everything I had learnt for the interviews in 10 seconds if my body allowed it (it did not, no surprise there).
As I went into the first interview (I was third of the 5 shortlists), waitlists had been called. Imagine the state of mind of a person who knows the previous ones have been probably rejected already before going into the room. I spent 50 minutes in the room, explaining things like why a fridge can be used as an AC (it cannot). Came out feeling tired and defeated, unaware of what was coming for me. In the second interview, I can now safely say, the interviewer was there just to insult me. I mean, don’t select me for the interviews if my profile does not match. Why waste both our time? I was pretty sure I had not made it.
For the third time, ENTER LADY LUCK.
8AM the next day I had an offer from the first company. The third money making opportunity I got from being in this college. I spent the next few days helping my friends. Left once everyone was done. Returned to a load of pending thesis work. Did some, am still doing some as I write this. Went on a trip, a One of a Kind trip. Not going into detail, but the first day itself was so disastrous it could only have gone uphill from there
TO YOU, WHENEVER FROM NOW
Most of the people who did Dual Degree with me would be gone in a few days from when I finish writing this. I am pretty much one of the few people who have lived the longest, legitimately possible, non-PhD, UG admitted life on the campus from my batch. I have failed, fallen, risen up and succeeded, all in the small span called college life. I have been Methodical, I have been Whimsical, I have been the most lost person on the Planet. And after all of this, here’s my two bits.
To me in whenever, you did all this without knowing how any of this would play out. As much as you like planning for all outcomes, the risk is what makes it worth it. Do it. You’ll do good. I have faith in you.
And to everyone else reading this – most of you only get one shot at this college life. Make the most of it. Reach out, take your shot, participate, and most importantly, enjoy. And whatever you do, do not blame me if you did it after reading this and it failed. Blame me if it fails twice though. After all, if you paid attention,
What Happens Twice, Happens Thrice.
Written by : Nikhil Kumar Sharma
Edited by : Vedika Mimani, Akash Baudh
