Riya Katiyar is a Y17 undergraduate student from the Department of Civil Engineering. She takes us through her journey, semester by semester and how she fought various pre-conceived notions.
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.
Hey, :)) This series should be named ‘We’ll Never Leave’ instead of ‘As We Leave’ because there is something about IITK, which will make you say the same thing even after you’ve spent four years here. I had first visited IITK in an open house organized by the Counselling Service, just after JEE Advanced. That day was like a trailer of the orientation, with good people showing you good places and describing amazing things about the place you were in. As you may have guessed by now, I belong to Kanpur and IITK was not that far away for me. I gave my board exams and UPSEE here at Kendriya Vidyalaya. Hence, I had some foreground to draw my imagination upon when I first thought of choosing IITK. I had the option between Chemical Engineering and Civil Engineering. I decided to go with Civil Engineering, despite many Y16s advising against it in the Open House. But I made that choice, because I was told that I will have the option of giving the Civil Services Examination and I was inherently uninterested in chemical equations.
First day at campus, was a bit acquainted for me because I had asked every question one could from the seniors before coming here. Some of my coaching buddies also joined IITK, so I was comfortable with people as well. New faces, new opportunities for new bonds to form. Then the orientation went in a flash, with all the colorful lineups drilling through rainy mornings and sunny afternoons. The blue folder brings it all back at one glance, and then I can spend hours counting the memories from that 8-day long weekend. But, let’s move on from there to the first lecture. I rode on the back of my roommate’s cycle to the academic area, finding L20 was quite a challenge! MTH101-PHY103-ESC101 in that order, they came and went, and I was so excited about the first day that I could not pay attention to anything. Then on repeat, this was pretty much my first semester. One difference, I had to learn cycling after the first week of classes (acknowledgement to the person on whose cycle I would take most rides, even though I knew how to cycle :P). Only 1 course that interested me was Introduction to Psychology, and I have taken that interest seemingly forward. Then came Freshers’ Night, E-summit, Udghosh, Antaragni, etc and I made sure I was a part of everything (except, Antaragni because that is to have fun ;)). The first semester was pretty much about asking, knowing and exploring for me. But, hold on, we left academics behind right? I got 6.7 SPI in first semester and I wasn’t happy. I knew it was terrible and had to do something. So, now I did something that you will laugh at. I spent the winters studying CHM102-MTH102-PHY102 and even LIF101 for the next semester.
Back to the campus for the second semester, I was motivated to score well this time, but without missing out on the extra-curriculars. Okay, this time some of the courses were going well. I still participated in many things, but my SPI improved this time and it was 7.3. I know, not much of a miracle but something I could term as progress.
Summers 2018 were quite a joyride. I made a mix of 1 course, 2 summer school courses from CSE, 2 or 3 club workshops, and Udghosh senior executive work. Morning to evening, I was busy with something or the other, and one month went by. Then I went home for one month to relax.
Before the third semester began, I was an SG and had 6 cute bacchis. They were so cute, that on day one when I had to struggle through the rain to reach the TA202 lab with mud and water all over me, they made my evening by planning an amazing surprise with a yummy molten chocolate cake as a Thank You party for the orientation. I chose to continue with Udghosh for this semester as I enjoyed a lot with the team there. It was even more fun with the junior executives joining this time. Udghosh 2018 was a success(no matter what people say). First year ended without a branch change. On day 4 of Antaragni 2018, one Y16 senior said to me ‘Civil ke logo ka to placement hi nahi hota’ and I know it sounds silly that I believed him, but I did, and I still remember how much I doubted my choice that day. That day, my best friend told me that I am listening to the views of second yearites from other branches, who do not know much about placements themselves yet and that I should maybe consult someone whose shoes are more similar to mine. I want anyone reading this article to take this piece of advice to with them. We hear a lot from others, because things here work on connections, by asking your seniors. But not everything we hear is true. Talking about the academic performance this semester, I got an SPI of 8.8, thanks to Notes Gallery. I felt more confident academically and decided to maintain this trend.
Winters 2018, I applied for the core team of Udghosh. But, I did not go for the Udghosh core team interviews. Why? Because I didn’t want to spend my summers working for 6 hours a day on something that would not make me learn. In Udghosh, I had worked on content and media partnerships. I felt pretty much saturated on that, and I also aimed at moving towards a higher CPI. So, in my fourth semester, I did TA201A, left Techkriti 2019 team, tried to take up MSO201A but was more than happy with HSO201A and prepped for internships! After a session by SPO on Summer Internships, I geared up to spend my summers with a Research Project, competitive programming and some Coursera courses. The fun part: Banaras photowalk.
The internship season began before the next semester. I had secured a day 1 interview, as opposed to 3 or 4 for people from the top 3 branches. By this time, I had a double major in economics as a backup, in case I am unable to secure a placement. (Spoiler alert: You know this did not happen as I am writing As we leave in 2021) . I reached the interview venue at 11 am and gave all the rounds till 5pm. After this, I was told that I have been selected, but boo! The hiring team made a mistake and apparently, I was not selected. I was really sad that day not because I was rejected but because of the way I was rejected. But with the support of my friend(again, the same one) I was able to concentrate on what was important now. After about 10 days I got the internship at Mastercard as a data engineer. Then I had only one goal to help my batchmates secure an internship. I forgot to mention working in a group, even if it is the two of you, will be tremendously beneficial because one, it will be difficult to get off-track and two, someone will always be there. In the fifth semester, with four labs, innumerable bonds were formed. SPI: 8.9
The next semester was important because civil peeps have to select their first open electives now. The pre-registration for this semester had us one our toes, tipping from one professor’s office to another. Sixth semester started well, filled with night outs and casual dinners, kyunki civil valon ki bhi internship lagti hai :P. There was one lab course this semester, and that got completed just before the midsem. As we all know, the pandemic hit us after this. This semester ended in July. SPI: 9.3. By this time you start getting nostalgic because this is your fourth year.
My internship period was reduced to one month, in work from home mode. I got a PPO, and I dropped the double major. The seventh semester as well begun online. Classes were converted to zoom meetings and appointments were converted to mails, exams became fastest scanner first competition. I enjoyed my time at home and hence SPI: 9.8.
Just when we had accepted that this semester was also going to be online, we were called back to the campus. Even though I was on the campus only for one and a half months, with many restrictions, got quarantined three times, but it was a fantastic time. This short time felt like many months and we had more fun than what we would have had if covid didn’t happen.
The takeaway from my journey is simple. Have faith in yourself, have a person who keeps reminding you that. Sometimes you will feel disheartened, but make sure you bounce back higher. Smile when you see someone, because it may make their day and be the source of the facts no one told you. Carve your own path and stay informed.
Written by: Riya Katiyar
Edited by: Ishita Vyavahare, Abhimanyu Sethia
