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In the 19th edition of As We Leave 2026, Sankalp Mittal, a student in the department of Computer Science and Engineering, looks back at his four years at IITK. He shares his transformative journey from facing initial apprehensions about the campus to diving headfirst into wing life, Humour House, and becoming a Hall Captain during Galaxy. From navigating a life-changing semester exchange at EPFL Switzerland and surviving a wild solo trip in Italy, to embarking on breathtaking Himalayan treks like Brahmatal and Sandakphu, Sankalp reflects on how stepping out of his comfort zone shaped his personality. Ultimately, he shares how these experiences and the unforgettable bonds forged along the way made these the best years of his life as he prepares to say his final goodbye.
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.
When I first got the news that I was allotted IIT Kanpur CSE, I gotta admit, I was a little disappointed. I was hoping for a better IIT, and honestly, the kind of feedback I had heard about IITK was a little scary. Now, as I write this and look back at my (almost) 4 years here, I am really glad I didn’t get into any other IIT. The kind of memories and experiences I have made here would really not have been possible anywhere else.
My first day on campus was a flurry of activity, getting to know new people and trying to come to terms with the fact that I would be sleeping in what seemed like a jail cell for the next 1 year. Little did I know it would not get better anytime soon. The next year went pretty predictably. I joined Humour House during Freshers’, started in the Aquatics team, got rejected for Inter IIT Sports (that one hurt a lot) and became a secy. Then came the 2nd year, which also went pretty standard, but I had lots of fun in Humour House and became a Baapu. During the winter break, I stayed on campus for Inter-IIT Cult meet practice, but I later learned about international research interns. Well, the part I liked the most was the “international” one, and I applied to a bunch of places. I wasn’t really well prepared and predictably, these applications didn’t lead anywhere. So one day, when I saw an email in my inbox about semester exchange programmes, I started applying to all of them. Sem-Ex wasn’t very popular and I didn’t know any senior who could help me with anything about it. So I just went with the flow and applied everywhere, and promptly forgot about it. Then came the dreaded coordinator interview. Those few weeks of torture are something that shaped me, as I had to talk to a huge number of people. The interview itself opened me up and increased my confidence as a person, by a lot. To everyone reading this, it is something I would highly recommend you do.
Also how can I forget about the GC, our batch was the first to properly have it after Covid. So in my 2nd year I was really interested in contributing to Hall 2 and I was enthusiastic enough to become the Hall Captain in Galaxy. It was a hectic few weeks but it was really fun and I got to learn a lot about how event management works and got to interact with some really cool Y20’s. During Galaxy there was an interesting event. I was performing Stand Up Comedy and one night before the event, I was learning my set in H2 Quad. Well, H5 had just removed all the dogs from their premises two days ago and they had found refuge in H2 instead. I got bit really bad in my calf, so bad that I was having trouble standing and that was the first and the only time I used the ambulance. After getting my rabies vaccination, I went to sleep and the next morning I wrote a 1 minute bit on dogs and animals and performed “SIT DOWN COMEDY”. I am still proud that I got the 2nd position in that event.
Also another tidbit about me, a lot of Y23s and Y24s would have noticed most of the back rows in the newer lecture halls were filled with “Bhujiachod Parth”. Well that Parth was my wingie, so he used to eat everyone’s bhujia and we started writing his name on all the LHC benches, and eventually we went to lectures just to write his name. The story kinda became a legend and you’ll find many people claiming different versions of it, but the actual Parth there is Parth Desai.
I also used to cycle a lot in my 2nd year. My personal best is 60km. It was really fun cycling for long distances and was lowkey an activity that I really missed in my 3rd and 4th year. Our cycling group kinda fell apart ig.
During the 4th semester’s midsem break I went trekking to Brahamatal Lake. This was one of those plans that had nine people initially, but one by one, everyone backed out. In the end, there were two of us, obstinate enough to not cancel the trek. On the second last day of the trek, while making the summit climb, we were passing a narrow crossing that had steep drops on either side. It was incredibly slippery, and well, my clumsy ass fell. It was the guide that helped me. At that moment, I got some real clarity on life. From then on, I decided to just enjoy life because you never know when something like this could happen, and I would not like to die with any regrets still left in me.
After coming back, I got to know that I had been selected for the semester exchange to EPFL, Switzerland. It was a tough decision to take because there really wasn’t anyone to ask for help on campus. I was confused on whether I even wanted to go since that would mean skipping one semester of college and well, I didn’t want to waste 1 of the 4 extremely precious semesters I had remaining. My previous experiences and the decision to never live with any regrets made me say yes. I did not want to live with the regret of saying no to such a unique opportunity, and well you just need to check out my Insta to see how much I made out of it. It truly shaped my personality and I am always glad that I did not say no. The process was really hard though, with no seniors to guide and the admin well being the admin, making our life tough. Somehow we figured it out and completed all the formalities while I also prepared for the intern season. Having a good CPI, I was hoping for a decent intern, but still there was a long grind on Codeforces and InterviewBit. Then the tests started and I realised most of those hours were of no use since almost everyone just cheats in the tests. Those were a frustrating few weeks. When the shortlists started coming I had only 3 Day-1 shortlists while my friends had 5-6, so I was very disappointed and didn’t know what to do. Then came the shortlist from Optiver. I prepared really well for the interview and somehow, miraculously, I became among the first few people to receive an offer on campus. I remember cycling full speed to my wing so fast that I crashed my cycle into a tree. Then came the realization that I won’t meet my friends for the next 4-5 months. That was really hard, though I guess in a way it prepared me for the final goodbye that I just said now.
Later, I finally arrived in Switzerland. Unfortunately, the three of us from IITK could not find a house together, so we lived separately. That actually forced us to socialize a lot and I made so many amazing international friends. Together with these guys, I went to 8 countries and obviously that included all of Switzerland.
The amount of confidence I gained in these four months living alone in a foreign country, searching for an apartment to rent, completing all the formalities, commuting daily to college (in Europe they don’t have residential universities) and actually exploring the world was out of this world. This is when it became my target to visit all the countries on the globe. I also learned a bunch of really important life skills like cooking my own food (I love making aloo ke paranthe), washing utensils, cleaning my room, taking care to stay in touch with friends. It may seem simple, but altogether it can be pretty overwhelming and it took me some time to figure it out. Apart from this, the experience really changed my perspective on education as I looked at classrooms where people actually showed up even when there was no attendance. Students there actually cared about learning, and everything was not just about getting good grades and passing the course. People put in extra effort to learn about things not in the syllabus, while still having fun. Looking at this, I realized this was the kind of a person I wanted to be and made my mind up to eventually pursue higher education.
There are some interesting travel experiences I would like to share. Travelling to so many countries makes you realize how different places can be, ranging from raw natural beauty like Switzerland to the peak of architecture in Paris, and the beauty of ancient ruins in Athens. Athens is also particularly close to my heart because of me being a huge Percy Jackson fan.
This was also the first time that I truly made a solo trip, planning each and everything. For 10 days, I traveled alone in trains, buses and flights all across Italy (Venice, Naples and Pompeii). The trip had its share of chaos and some scary moments, with me almost missing my flight once. It was also here that I faced outright racism for the first time in Europe. I was walking down an alley in Naples when an old (60ish) Italian lady passed by. Being the friendly fool I am, I waved hi. Then she literally started chasing me, waving a cross in her hand. I was so stunned that I froze, and she started beating me with the cross. I obviously ran for my life and it is not something I would want to do again.
In these 4 months I learnt a lot. Most importantly, travel is not as expensive as it looks. If you plan well and book in advance, you can travel very cheap, you just need to be ready to sleep at airports 😀 and eat bread every day. These 4 months also revived my habit of reading. I was a really avid reader in my school days and had just kinda fallen off after joining college. Well, I am happy to report that I have already read 23 novels this year (PS: Feel free to follow me on Goodreads).
I also bought a huge collection of international alcohol back to campus and I am glad to say that everyone involved in the party now has no recollection of it. Also, my collection of bottles is currently in the security office. For details, ask anyone in HH or FMC about the H2 incident of 2025.
Returning to campus, I was right back into the college grind but this time with an actual objective to learn. I did my internship (didn’t get a PPO 🙁), travelled some more across Europe and went to Vegas (no photos from there lol, what happens in Vegas stays there). I found my favourite country in Europe to be Iceland, being someone who always keeps natural beauty over urban sprawl.
Then came the placement grind, not something I would like to remember again. The post placement trips I made were really fun though. I was in North East India for ~15 days and I made some very fond memories there.
These are pictures from Meghalaya.
Btw in the first picture, the mountain in the background is Mount Kanchenjunga, and the Everest in the second. This was the Sandakphu Phalut Trek.
Then came the last semester. It is a really bittersweet memory and the goodbye is still too raw to talk about currently. I would advise everybody to make the most out of this one. You will always remember it and make as many trips as you can with your friends.
As I leave this campus, I can honestly say that these 4 years were the best years of my life. I would happily give up a decade to relive them once again.
Written By: Sankalp Mittal
Edited By: Moksh Dalal, Pratyush Sandhwar
