As We Leave #70: Pilot to Finale

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In the 70th edition of As We Leave 2026, Pradnya Govil, a Y22 student in Materials Science and Engineering, reflects on four years of growth, challenges, friendships, and unforgettable campus experiences. From academic setbacks and E-Cell responsibilities to internships, placements, and spontaneous adventures, her journey shaped her into a more confident and resilient person. She leaves IIT Kanpur grateful for the people and memories that made it feel like home.

Writing this ‘As We Leave’ while still not ready to leave the campus that shaped who I became over these four years feels strange. Without IITK, I might still have been the person I was always afraid of becoming; the shy introvert, standing quietly in the corner of every crowded room.

My story is written very simply. I only wanted to capture moments that would make me laugh, smile, and reminisce when I read this 10-15 years later. Maybe there’s also a little advice hidden somewhere in it, on making the best of college in your own way.

A little about myself – I’m Pradnya, an MSE undergrad, and according to people around me, my personality mostly revolves around movies and web series. I’ve always been a huge fan, and honestly, sitcoms probably deserve credit for preserving my sanity during JEE.

So here’s my college journey in four seasons – one for each year.

Season 1 : Pilot

Every show starts with confusion and a protagonist pretending to know what they’re doing.

The first year was mostly like every other fresher only, making a lot of friends (OGs being the first friend group I found here), networking, joining clubs, exploring interests, participating in events and of course, endless night-outs.

The most disheartening part, though, was seeing 0s and 1s in courses like Quantum Physics and MTH111 after coming from a background where I had always been the class topper. My entire first semester went into figuring out how to study, and despite trying honestly, I still ended up with a bad CPI.

The second semester came with hope — balancing academics while still enjoying college to the fullest. Sitting idle was never really my thing, so you would rarely find me in my room in the first year (Anishka can confirm). I was either in RM until I was politely reminded that I wasn’t a CSE student so I had to leave the premises, or somewhere around DOAA, Library and OAT – watching movies, hanging out, or attempting my academic comeback.

And somehow, it happened.

Going from a 6.2 SPI in the first semester to an 8.2 SPI in the second felt huge. Thankfully, there was no downfall after that.

The season somehow ended with an academic comeback arc and a protagonist who finally stopped feeling completely lost.

Season 2 : Learning the hard way

The season where responsibilities increase and life suddenly introduces side quests.

I started my second year as a secy in E-Cell, Dance Club, and BCS, while also serving as a Student Guide. So naturally, the year began with Y23 orientation and me wearing black glasses throughout because I caught eye flu at exactly the same time. Somehow, it still remains a core memory.

Dance Orientation practice in black glasses because of eye flu

I actively participated everywhere but eventually had to prioritize things because of health issues and event clashes, especially when Antaragni performance collided with E-Summit responsibilities. Around that time, I left Dance Club and chose to focus on my responsibilities for E-Summit ’23. Looking back, I think that was unknowingly the point where a certain path got decided for me.

Anyway, the fourth semester began with its own struggles, mostly DC courses and especially ESC201, where I genuinely felt like I was the only person pulling down the average. But with a little help and a lot of last-minute clutching, I somehow ended up with a pretty decent grade in the end. (Always hated batti courses anyway.)

Later around Jan-Feb, when everyone was figuring out PORs, I applied for CTM but it didn’t work out :/ . Soon after, I applied for Manager, Events in E-Cell and ended up getting selected after what felt like an endless eight-hour interview process. The preparation for it still haunts me, but somehow everything worked out in the end.

And I think IITK taught me this repeatedly: what is meant to happen somehow finds its way.

Also, somewhere during all this, I lost my series-watching appetite, something I thought was impossible. Although I’m back at it now 🙂

Season 3 : Character Development

Probably the most life changing season. Or rather, the season that shaped me the most. It started with the internship nightmare.I had stayed back the entire summer with no courses, purely to prepare for intern season. Was it worth it?

Maybe.

Because somewhere in that process I realized SDE wasn’t really my cup of tea and I needed to focus on other domains. Although by “other domains,” I definitely did not mean finance which somehow gave me almost five shortlists I wasn’t prepared for. Six rejections and two crying sessions later, I finally secured an internship at Barclays by the end of August. (one of the happiest moments truly)

The following months became some of the most hectic and memorable of my college life. I had my Coldplay tickets booked for Jan, but they clashed with E-Summit, and so I had to let them go. Looking back, I’d still make the same choice. Conducting E-Summit remains one of the best experiences of my college life. We practically spent our days and nights inside the E-Cell room, surviving almost entirely on DOAA canteen and Divyam for food. That room somehow became our home — mattresses, blankets, utensils, and complete chaos scattered everywhere.We practically took turns falling sick.But somehow everyone kept going because it was THE SUMMIT of our tenure.An entire month of rigorous preparation for those three days.

And it was absolutely worth it.

I could’ve never imagined meeting Aman Gupta, but more than that, I learned tremendously during that phase. Our seniors were incredibly helpful, and E-Cell taught me things beyond just startup knowledge – communication, responsibility, leadership, ownership, and the amount of effort it takes to build something meaningful.I’ll always be grateful to E-Cell for playing such a huge role in shaping my personality.

At the same time, the 63 credit semester was honestly hectic beyond words. It had one of the three most haunting courses of my IITK academic life — CS771 (definitely wouldn’t recommend taking it under peer pressure). The other two being PHY114 and HSO201. Most of that semester went into maintaining a decent placement CPI while still trying to live college life properly which somehow included missing an 80% attendance class just to rewatch Interstellar in IMAX, Lucknow 🙂

This was probably the year where I stopped trying to force everything to happen a certain way and maybe that’s exactly why it became so memorable.

Season 4: Finale

The season everyone knows is ending but nobody wants to admit it.

The year that taught me to value friendships more than anything. It also came with one of the hardest phases of my college life, a heartbreak that, at the time, felt impossible to move past. Looking back, though, maybe it only made me stronger. The six of us wingies somehow became closer than ever, and roomie³ only became stronger.

At the start of seventh semester, placement season began.Like everyone else, I was anxious. I started updating my resume, participating in Unstop competitions, going through casebooks, consulting seniors, preparing endlessly and doing everything possible.Meanwhile, people around me were getting PPOs every other day, and I had already heard that Barclays rarely gave any PPO offers.Then one day, on 16th August, I received a message saying Barclays interns from other IITs had already started receiving theirs. With that sudden adrenaline rush and complete panic, I hurriedly contacted SPO hoping for any information.

Only to find out that I had already received the PPO.

And only three students had.

Two of them from IITK itself.

That moment was one of the happiest moments of my college life. The feeling of suddenly not having to sit in the rat race anymore. “Ab toh sab sorted hai, kya tension?”

Out of the six of us, two eventually got PPOs. But the placement season itself was another experience entirely. Three nights with practically no sleep, running everywhere for our friends, for even the slightest chance at walk-ins, last-minute HR preparation (please contact Nishtha – 100% success rate) and everyone silently hoping things worked out.

The smiles, tears, and relief on Day 3 when most of my friends were finally sorted still remains unmatched.I remember being happier seeing my friends finally sleep peacefully than anything else.

Then came the last semester. And with “sab kuch last hai last hai” slowly came going broke. So broke that with absolutely no planning whatsoever, the six of us booked our Goa tickets in the middle of an ongoing semester.

And honestly?

We had the time of our lives.

Left pic: left to right – Arpita, me, Anishka, Arya, Pratiksha, Nishtha

Coming back from that trip was probably when reality slowly hit. This was really going to be the last of everything.

Last midsems

Last endsems.

Last h10 garba night.

Last walks.

Last hangouts in D328 playing Cabo,pictionary and poker while endlessly listening to absolutely unnecessary chhapri reel content. The last semester somehow made every bond stronger. E-Cell core team became much more than a team through random parties ( including crazy pool parties), long walks around campus and even going to the cricket stadium for the first time ever. Playing badminton everyday with people I had grown slightly distant from and coming back at the end of the day to the six of us always felt incredibly wholesome.We kept making plans for our last few days just so we could spend more time together — wall painting, club parties, karaoke nights, cooking sessions, Pictionary but somehow, they still never felt enough. We grew from preparing for quizzes in our own rooms to somehow knowing everyone’s syllabus and quiz dates better than our own.

Staying awake till 5 AM without realizing it. Only for someone to suddenly say:“Ab kyun sona hai… amrit mattha chalenge na?”

But slowly, even IITK began reminding us that this college dream had a deadline through batch videos, DE, Farewell, Scribble Day, and Abhinandan.The last few days on campus couldn’t have ended more beautifully. On the last day, surrounded by the people who had become such a huge part of my life, I realized I had lived a version of college life I would never trade anything for. I never really understood what a goodbye meant until IITK taught me. And so, if someone ever asks me my favourite movie someday, I’ll probably just replay my college life with an ending I still wasn’t ready for.