Disclaimer: Vox Populi, IIT Kanpur, is the exclusive owner of the information on this website. No part of this content may be duplicated, paraphrased, or interpreted in any other way without written consent from Vox Populi. If you want to reproduce any of the content on this page, please contact our chief editors directly or reach out to us by email at voxpopuli@iitk.ac.in.

In this edition of As We Leave 2026, Arpita Chaurasia, a Y22 from department of Electrical Engineering,revisits her IIT Kanpur journey through academic struggles, unexpected wins, burnout, placements, and endless chaos.Between late-night study sessions, rain-soaked adventures, and stolen campus moments, her friends became the heart of every memory.As she leaves, she realizes that the life she built here will always be more beautiful in her memories than in words.

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 IITK.

Well, it should be simple, right? Begin at the beginning and end at the ending- I mean yes, but then would it be as beautiful as I have it in my head?

——————————————————————————————————–

I was always more scared of being trampled on by a neelgai than being eaten up by a leopard. Sane enough if you see the one as a meme and the other sprinting across a road randomly.

That was certainly not the beginning.

“Sabke naam yaad karlo, tumhare hi wingies hain, inhi ke sath rehna hai ab”, I counted 34 heads and 5-6 seniors, one of whom I had called “ma’am” on a phone call a few days earlier.

I was surrounded by people, taking it all in, anxious and anticipatory. I felt like a tiny dot. But in the coming days of orientation, I learnt a lot of stuff I didn’t think I would-

1. Covering the gap (rage bait).
2. Waking up early and sitting for almost 12 hours without a phone (I forgot it in my room).
3. Reaching the lecture halls half an hour before the class timings only causes crowding.

I had never experienced such a happening life before- orientation, club activities, freshers, treasure hunt, and quizzes- but wait- padhai to ek raat pehle ho jati hai na?

Well, tried and tested, no. And loads of other failed attempts

1. I had not known how chilly a December night could get at 3 am until I had to sit in the IME building begging for the epsilons to make sense. 
2. Attempted to sneak into TA111 lab 2.5 hours late, confused by all the instruments (definitely among the top 10 crazy experiences at iitk).
3. Studying at RM included one of us sleeping, other eating and one dragging me across the rm in a swivel chair and getting caught at exactly that moment, running out of the building like culprits (which we were, breaking all the rules at once).
4. Esc201 lab exam revealed a greater tangle of wires in my brain than on the breadboard in front of me.  I ended up in front of a burnt potentiometer, and absolutely refusing the TA asking if I burned something.

——————————————————————————————————-

I find it funny today, but at that time, I knew I had to get serious. It’s never too late, right? But the cumulative grading system was cruel. Even after trying my best, I saw negligible improvements- my entire personality was built around acads, and I saw my last straw breaking. Even average would do for me, but no, I was below average, knew no sports or geeky programming, nor had any exceptional talents. I felt invisible and broken. It led to a very dangerous acceptance: “This is what I am, no matter how hard I try”. I believed I had reached my limit of achieving.

I guess the coming days had a few surpises for me. 

Endsems of November 2024.  Fast forward: I got a mail for an interview. Contacted the seniors immediately. Did not sleep. Overthought every sentence I spoke and every fumble I made. 

I got the offer.

I scored my highest ever spi that sem. After a long time, I remember thinking I had finally figured it out. 

That made me 24.7% more confident (don’t ask about the numbers, I made it up).

Life never follows an expected path though. With the post intern euphoria gone, I was locked in, but that did not last much. I became extremely lazy and lacked the motivation even to go to the mess to eat. I had several breakdowns and could not figure out what was happening to me. That is when my closest friend, my roomie, Arya, became my support I needed so much. I went to ICS on her recommendation, and figured I was experiencing burnout. 

Intern was annoying (there, I said it- but I guess the HR must have figured as much from the subtitles on my face, guess who didn’t get a ppo)- but Udaipur was magical. That was definitely a splendid unexpected thing to happen.

And so was staying up for three days straight- stressed like never, ever before.

Placements. 

I won’t say much, except that when I got the offer, I felt so light, I bet moon’s gravity could not compete (sorry for the nerd-ism). All of my friends and I were sorted by day 3, and I can never be grateful enough to my friends running for me like crazy.

Following that, nothing was challenging except planning the Goa trip and attending classes (I absolutely did not bother).

——————————————————————————————————–

I remember a lot of things about my time at IITK, but what do I want to remember the most? Probably the unexpected, almost forgotten and stolen moments that made me fall out of the character I thought I was. Or am. 

1. A random scary story from a sis guard interrupted by a noise, sending us scared freshers running into our rooms.
2. Uniting for the gangnam style shoots, bobbing heads in corridor and pranking Pratiksha.
3. One of the long-lost stories would be the one in which we propped our feet against the wall and made-up stories with socks as our characters (the pink one was called gulaabo).
4. Getting drenched in a 3am rain and having a chai at DOAA while shivering, leaving your room at hall 4 halfway packed up.
5. Swimming lessons by Arya, highlights including my innocent attempt at drowning her, a failed backflip in water, a somewhat successful 10 sec swimmer, and running out of the pool falling hard and laughing harder. 
6. The jasmine shrub at OAT that showered its white fragrant flowers.
7. I fell off my bicycle only once. Quite painful. Not recommended. Had Bikaneri bhujiya afterwards though (authentic++).
8. Dancing is fun until you start counting steps and walking like a zombie clutching your knees and cursing each time you need to sit down.
9. Attending a Helly Shah show after struggling through heavy downpour, definitely worth it.
10. A short left-handed person does not make a good badminton player (especially doubles), but it’s fun still. Sneaking into the billiards room was better though (some grown people I know pretended rowing a boat with the pool cue).
11. Trying to burn dustbins at Diwali turns out to be painful and funny (not giving ideas).
12. The endless campus walks, the taste of freedom of walking carefree at night, Amrit mattha streaks and ticking off everything on our bucket lists for last sem.
13. And the people ofc- thank you, my dear, dear friends, Pranshu for trying so hard to make me survive batti and the paani /chunnilal jokes,  Roshan for improving my attendance and always supporting, Shubham for all the unplanned plans and conversations, Nishtha for turning our dumbasses into aesthetic, Pradnya for never minding being bullied, Pratiksha for sharing brainrot and being my twin, Anishka also for sharing my brain rot and sleepy head and Arya for sharing room with me and tolerating my miseries alongside me all these years.

And if at the end of it all, I ask myself who am I? 

I don’t know who am I without my habit of leaving my phone everywhere I go, spewing brainrot at people I love, remembering people by the songs, movies or books they recommended me. I don’t know who I am without the habits that make me.

And the question at the beginning, will it be as beautiful as I have it in my head?

Well, no- besides my skill issue at putting things into words- I think the language of memories in my head will always weave a story more beautiful than words could ever do.

——————————————————————————————————–

Written by: Arpita Chaurasia
Edited by: Harika , Abhinav kumar