Avik Pal is a Y17 undergraduate student from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. He presents his trajectory through 4 years of IITK.
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.
Writing with a creative writing style is kind of not my thing. The only things I have written lately are technical reports, and they tend not to be very “creative.” So, the obvious thing to do was to go through previous AWL posts and interpolate between the narrative styles (or, as my friends call it, “yaha pe bhi machine learning apply karna”). Unfortunately, I realized these AWLs have the common theme of “roller coaster” rides and people facing an “existential crisis” of research vs. jobs (as if one summer decides your entire life trajectory). Before you call me an asshole for trivializing these grave existential problems, let me clarify that I don’t have any beef with these stories. In a free world, everyone should get to share their stories. However, I think it paints an overly biased notion that having stuff sorted out is uncommon and bad since you are not “exploring” (whatever that means), and being confused in the new (and better?) normal.
In contrast, my experiences (fortunately/unfortunately?) have mostly been a trajectory with positive gradients with respect to time, despite not “exploring” much. IITK is a fantastic place. But here, I will highlight some shit stuff you will most likely see and experience around you to emphasize that even in the best of places, you will find such terrible commonplace notions. And that it is crucial to not let them affect or control you in any sense.
Having said that, it might be worthwhile to mention that I was someone who entered IITK with my major being Aerospace Engineering. This was one of the worst decisions I could have taken, not because of the particular major or job prospects as “wise” seniors would point out, but because I wanted to study AI (yeah, from even before starting college), which is totally unrelated to AE. And I knew it would affect my chances for good graduate schools (yup started planning from back then!). Nevertheless, I did manage to change my major to CSE, and things worked out. The point is I wanted to study AI even before I entered college and will continue to work in AI for my Ph.D. This has nothing to do with not “exploring.” I knew I liked computer science in general and tried the various avenues it offered. Still, nothing else seemed to click for me. This notion of not exploring is extremely stupid; think about not sticking with something amazing, aka having commitment issues. It also implicitly leads to this belief that the first thing you like is suboptimal. Just to reiterate, it is okay to know what you want to do, as it is fine not knowing what to do. If you are having fun doing something, keep doing it, don’t be pressured to “explore” every random opportunity that comes your way.
Okay, now, coming to my first year, the most ridiculous time would definitely be the ones spent with the HEC. We were told that freshers are not “recommended” to have laptops (Y18s and beyond, be thankful you didn’t face this stupidity) so that they can socialize with their peer group. Having laptops in a technical college is supposedly harmful while spending countless hours in meaningless events like Galaxy and Takneek will help you get jobs by playing drums (ask a Y17 Hall 5 folk if you want to know the story). I distinctly remember being told how seniors will not help us in the future if we did not participate in these GC events. I did not participate in a single event in my freshman year simply because those events had nothing to do with what I wanted to do ( although I happened to participate in my second year only because a friend of mine took up the position of Hall Captain :facepalm:). And it turns out several seniors have helped me out over the years. Most folks at IITK are helpful. And if someone asks, “did you participate in GC?” when you go to them for some guidance, you’d probably want to steer clear from them (they have serious issues with priorities in life to give advice to others). As I said earlier, these random opportunities to showcase your “hidden” talents will keep popping up but remember, time is limited and it is often better to pass them if they don’t align with your long-term priorities.
Now let’s talk about the elephant in the room. Or maybe the ant which the students have made to seem like an elephant, aka PoRs. I won’t take the higher moral ground and deny being involved in obtaining PoRs. I applied and became an SG and AM, probably because all my friends were applying for the same. I probably should have known better, but I was a stupid 18-year-old. Though in hindsight, I did meet some of my closest friends there. I was also involved in some club activities, but honestly, my time would have been spent better elsewhere. Being engaged in PoRs for fun is great but treating them as something more than that is outright foolish. It is like the people who claim that playing video games improves their reflexes and whatnot. Even I play many of these games, but I do it for fun; those short dopamine bursts are amazing, and that’s it. So to summarize, if you have space to fit PoRs in your resume, you are already at a disadvantage.
Ah, the third year. The year which decides if you will win a Turing Award or create the next Apple (or maybe just work there, not sure what is the most prestigious thing in corporate jobs). Just kidding, don’t stress too much about what you are going to do in the summers. It probably won’t matter much in the long term. If you are certain about what you want, just go do that, don’t listen to your friend or senior who tries to explain how X is the new fad, and you need to do that. 3 months is generally too short a time to have a lasting impact on what you want to do in life. The stress induced by the desire to solve the mental dilemma of research vs job is just not worth it.
Coming to jobs, based on the recommendation of a friend, I decided to check out the apparently relatable series “Alma Matters.” Halfway through the 2nd episode, I was unsure if I was supposed to feel bad for the folks or if it was a sarcastic comedy. They were proudly saying that they don’t go to classes and used to just fool around not acquiring technical skills and were later cribbing that it is hard to get a technical job. I do hope it was sarcasm. But sadly, I have seen such folks here at IITK as well. I am not talking about folks who put in a lot of effort; I empathize with them and sincerely hope they get the position they want. I am talking about the people who don’t put in an ounce of effort and crib how the SPO screwed them over. I don’t have any experience with SPO, but I have received both academic and industrial offers through cold emailing and job portals. I guess being a typical maggu who locks himself in his room paid off (and quite well, actually). If you don’t want a traditional job or go to graduate school, that is fine; enjoying what you do is far more important. To the others, stop living in denial and diverting blame to others; you are not entitled to a job simply because you are from IITK.
Huh… For the last year, I don’t quite remember any such incident – perhaps you just get used to it and develop a great mechanism to filter those out. 4th year is supposed to be the time when most of your friends are placed, admitted to grad school, or have some sort of a plan for the future, and you are supposed to enjoy the last year on campus. But sadly, Covid cut down our 8 months to a mere 45 days. I did go back to campus for those few days, and honestly, I don’t have a logical reason to explain my decision. It was probably nostalgia and the desire to meet my friends for the last time (hopefully not). I had never thought I would miss IITK, but the day the email came to vacate the campus (and probably a few days before that at OAT), it did suck bad. So before moving on to the conclusion, let me say that keep doing what you enjoy and make few but good friends while you are here. Don’t let the expectations of the folks around you influence what you enjoy; after all, that is what the IITK bubble should be doing better than the outside society.
Contrary to what you might think after reading this, I have had a fantastic time at IITK, and retrospectively the terrible decision turned out to be a great one. I have made some amazing friends and have spent several cherishable moments with them. And it has been an absolute privilege to have grown out of the teenage child that I was, with the absolutely amazing folks at IITK. Before concluding, I was supposed to think about something to tell myself if I were to start the journey all over again. Ignoring that it is impossible, who the hell wants to turn back into the stupid child, they were when they entered college. Regardless, I don’t think I would tell myself anything. I do have plenty of regrets about things I could have done, but perhaps I would not end up where I am today if I did those things. I am graduating with a great academic record, an amazing Ph.D. offer, a few great friends, and a plethora of good memories, and I wouldn’t have it otherwise.
Written by: Avik Pal
Edited by: Lavanya Ingle, Abhimanyu Sethia
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