Jaagrati Jain is a graduating Y19 from the Department of Biological Sciences and Bioengineering. .In the 31st edition of As We Leave, Jagrati takes us through her journey of profound transformation. From joining the college as an inexperienced individual who didn’t know how to communicate appropriately to being the coordinator at the Robotics Club and winning a silver medal in Inter-IIT, the AWL recounts all the struggles and learnings along the way.
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.
Today, as I sit down to write this piece, there are only two days left on campus. With each passing day, the list of things to do keeps growing. It feels like I want to meet certain people one more time, stroll along the tree-filled lane near the hockey ground (which can be a bit spooky if it weren’t for being in IITK), sit on the OAT stairs beneath the stars, wander in the academic area and get lost, immerse myself in the lush greenery, visit BSBE or RM to grab a drink of water, take our bicycles to the gate and indulge in momos, head to Chaupati and savor Mama Mio. Let’s do it all one last time? But these last times never seem to end!
These past four years have been the most beautiful of my life. They were years of profound transformation. I started as an inexperienced individual who didn’t know how to communicate appropriately, and now I feel prepared to face the world (hopefully XD). The determination to become the best version of myself stuck with me, and somehow, I managed to navigate through it all.
It’s pretty challenging to capture the entirety of the story in words, but I’ll attempt to recount most of the events. These four years were filled with a mix of happiness, emotions, sadness, joy, drama, and busyness, all of which became the best versions because of the friends I made along the way. This is the story of an average student who, against the odds, managed to gain admission to IIT, albeit not in a highly sought-after branch. Hailing from a small city, the student initially struggled academically, but eventually found their way and experienced significant improvement.
This journey began with the memorable “first day, first-night” moment. I entered the gates of IITK with Titiksha, and I can still vividly recall how we stared at the campus in awe. There was an exhilarating adrenaline rush, as we had no idea what lay ahead. The first two things I encountered were the phrases “Simran is your amma” and “and your branch is BS-BE” (not B-S-B-E), which left me completely bewildered by the coded language spoken by the seniors around me. Later only, I came to know the ‘Lingo’.
On the first night in Kanpur, I met my adopted sisters (they adopted me, haha), and we instantly bonded. Believe it or not, we walked around the campus at 11 PM, even when we had no clue. We were both scared of getting lost, yet excited for our first late-night stroll. I shared the pictures with our “amma” in the group, which earned us some scolding since it wasn’t allowed, hehe. It turned out to be the most memorable walk we’ve ever had! That day, we explored the OAT, and it felt absolutely incredible.
Orientation followed, and it turned out to be the busiest seven days throughout my college life. People used to make queues even for brushing and bathing, haha.
Freshers were approaching, and I joined the dramatics club. I spent hours, from 8 PM to 4 AM rehearsing dialogues and doing run-throughs with my fellow members. I remember being terrible at acting initially, and everyone would laugh at my delivery, but we kept at it for almost a month. However, I didn’t realize I had started taking my quizzes for granted, and soon everything piled up. Balancing academics, sleep, and other commitments became a struggle during those long practice hours, which started taking a toll on my health. The midsems arrived, and I performed exceptionally poorly. The worst part was leaving the Nukkad Natak just two days before the performance (yeah, I still feel bad about it, and Mukulesh would still make fun, lol). After putting in so much effort, I felt like a loser for leaving the Nukkad Natak and parting ways with those fantastic people. Tears welled up in my eyes when I went to watch the performance and saw my friends on stage.
Coming from a small city, I always wished to experience everything I could, but I failed at my first attempt. That ongoing, nagging voice in my head kept reminding me repeatedly that I was a failure, and it was starting to get to me. I didn’t know when my urge to do everything turned into a FOMO. I constantly felt that I would miss out on all the fun if I didn’t participate. I participated in E-Summit, made calls to a long list of unknown people, and dedicated my days to the summit. I even managed to secure an internship in my first year, which was also ongoing. Antaragni, the cultural festival, took place that semester, and witnessing the pronites for the first time was a fantastic experience. I became a Junior Exec in both Antaragni and Udghosh. Overall, I devoted my time to various activities except academics. I heard seniors saying, “Study overnight before the exam, and everything will be fine.”
As expected, my performance was abysmal. It was just before the end-semester exams, and I had yet to learn about half of the course the day before the exam. I remember calculating the marks I needed to pass MTH101A and PHY101. I couldn’t concentrate or know how to study or what to study. I was overwhelmed by the thought, “I wish I could just pass these two courses.” It was tough for me to accept being in such a position where passing became my main goal. It was the complete opposite of where I had started – aiming to do well, achieve a good CPI, and change my branch.
I ended up with a 6.6 CPI that semester and didn’t like seeing myself as a 6-pointer. The self-doubt and frustration set in again, repeating the cycle of being unable to study because I wanted to enjoy and participate in various activities and not having enough time to study. After seeing my results, I sat down to reflect on my mistakes. I wasn’t ready to give up on having fun, but I realized I had been procrastinating the whole time.
During this period, I connected with Kshitiz Rajoria from the Y16 batch. He happened to be from the same hometown as me. He shared inspiring stories of his friends who faced similar challenges and how they overcame them. I gathered my strength, pulled myself together, and fought back. I devised a plan to break tasks into smaller parts and allocate my time accordingly. If I wanted to enjoy the fun features of the day, I had to complete these smaller tasks first. The second semester began, and I stuck to my plan for the first month. Completing these tasks gave me a sense of satisfaction, and I regained my confidence that I could catch up. Everything was going well, except for PHY103, taught by Professor Harbola, and my struggle to keep up with ESC101. The midsems came around, and I performed decently in my other courses.
But nature had other plans. We came back home for Holi breaks but stayed for another 1.5 years. We learned a new word- “LOCKDOWN.” While everything around was kinda depressing, our Endsems got canceled. A few days later, I received a mail from Prof. Harbola- “ You are being deregistered from the course.” I, along with some 150 others, had received the identical mail. It felt like – I FAILED a course! I got a 7 pointer that semester. I knew I was getting better, but I needed to push a lot more to get to something. I was unaware of what I could improve. It seemed that despite all my efforts, I felt like a failure. I realized that if we are doing academically well, everything seems perfect, and we enjoy it. But most of the time, we don’t know how to improve and what to improve.
However, finding friends with similar motivation and a willingness to support and assist can truly turn things around. This was when the trio was formed – Nishant, Parth, and I became good friends. Our initial connection may have been for the wrong reasons (ah, cheating), but eventually, we started putting in genuine efforts. These friends wouldn’t hesitate to scold me if I slacked off. Having friends who keep you on track and hold you accountable is truly a blessing. The three of us achieved an SPI of 9+ that semester. Needless to say, I was overjoyed and even shed a few tears.
I was still having some difficulties with the DC courses, but Abhinav came to help and shared his knowledge. From that point on, life started to feel more balanced, and I was able to enjoy my college experience to the fullest. I made a few changes – I avoided procrastination and took a break from almost every commitment, except for the Robotics Club and Aerial Robotics. I had also been a part of the E-cell, but I decided to part ways when I realized I couldn’t manage it all. My friends helped me prioritize based on my interests. Gradually, things began falling into place, and I started to feel a sense of harmony
RC times begins!
IV. The Gateway to Opportunity: Unveiling the Internship Saga through the SIP Program
One fine day, amidst the lockdown, I received an email about the Startup Internship Program by ECell. I heard about it from the seniors, but it required submitting a resume. I managed to create one after multiple iterations. Eventually, I enrolled in the SIP program. However, as expected, most companies were primarily interested in candidates from circuital branches. The few companies open to BSBE students were primarily offering business management roles. Until the last few companies, ‘ Touch’ with a 70kpm stipend came. I had almost lost hope by then.
After 15 days of the SIP portal closing, I woke up to an email from Touch stating that I had been shortlisted and an interview was scheduled. I couldn’t believe my eyes, so I read it thrice with bleary eyes. The interviews took place, and I managed to secure a position there. Hurray! It felt like a significant achievement to me. That’s how my second-year summers were spent. I received a pre-internship offer from Touch, which led me to decline to participate in the SPO internship season. I worked at Touch for 1.25 years, and it turned out to be an incredible learning experience under the guidance of Vineet and the team. The highlight was the third-year summers when we went to Pune. We successfully deployed the MVP during that summer, and I interned as the Chief of Staff. Feel free to ping me if you wish to know more about the interview or resume-making.
The room next to the balcony, A3, Hall 12, was a special place. It’s where we danced, sang, fought, cleaned, organized, and did many other things. It’s where our journey began, from joining the club to recruiting new members and passing on the legacy. I missed the robo workshop initially, but I hesitantly called Ramyata for help. She kindly took the slot for me and ensured I got the workshop. During Takneek, we had the opportunity to create CADs, which felt incredibly exciting then. I remember when we had to make holes in our cardboard, and only Neil was around. We were afraid to ask for help, but he came over and assisted us. This place made me feel like I truly belonged. Everyone was welcoming and eager to teach.
I can’t forget the experiences we had during the Inter IIT Tech Meet and the medals we won. It felt amazing when we received the Inter IIT Tech Meet 9.0 results and found out we had won a Silver medal. We were online at the time, and we were literally screaming with joy on our calls.
Soon, I became the coordinator of the club. Although half of my tenure was online, I returned to the club during the RC times with four secretaries. It was an exciting feeling to hold the keys to the club. However, that excitement faded when I opened the club and realized I had to clean it. A few days later, we celebrated Diwali pooja in the club. We then started working on a line follower robot for Techfest, and we successfully submitted our project. Next up was Inter IIT 10.0, where the coordinators took on managerial roles. We spent long hours discussing ideas, only to discard most of them by the end of the day. Despite the challenges, we secured a silver medal in our problem statement
Prateek, Adit, and Azhar were the strong support I had by my side to make everything successful. These people helped me cope with the multiple commitments I had at that time.
VI. Unlocking Opportunities: The Thrilling Quest of the Job Placement Season
Next big question: What do I want to do in my life? To be honest, I’m not sure yet. My decision has mainly been influenced by coding, which I last practiced in my midsem of ESC101. But, I had enough experiences to write about in each section of my resume. I learned about Consulting and started preparing for it.
It was overwhelming for me to solve the cases. I watched numerous videos of people solving cases but struggled during my initial attempts. Thankfully, Khushboo took the time to sit down with me and explain how I should approach them. Surprisingly, after that discussion, I was able to solve my first case. Personally, I found it mentally exhausting to tackle multiple instances in a single day. When I think back to my seventh semester, all I can remember is solving cases, taking long walks with Adit doing rr, and Saranya being there to motivate me whenever I felt lost. Apart from the technical preparation, having constant emotional support is also crucial to keep up with the pace, and Saranya has been that person for me. She has helped me generate ideas and create decks while staying by my side late into the night.
On 1st December, the interviews arrived, and I was fortunate enough to secure a position as a Strategy Consultant at Accenture Solutions.
The final semester arrived, and the time drew near to bid farewell. However, Parth and Saranya were still waiting for the results of their Master’s applications, so we couldn’t fully enjoy the first half of the semester. Eventually, the results came, and both got accepted into the top universities in their respective fields. Now, nothing could hold us back. Everything and everyone was sorted.
We spent countless nights wandering aimlessly, chatting and dancing with Shreyasi, Nitika, and Saranya for hours. We explored various cafes, watched movies and web series, shopped like there was no tomorrow, and ventured out onto the terraces. The college fests arrived, and I lost track of time. My sister also joined me for the last Antaragni. Every moment felt like it was happening for the last time, creating a bittersweet sensation.
Soon, the photoshoot and batch video shoot began. Everyone was seen in a combination of blazers and shorts. The atmosphere was quiet, yet everyone was silently screaming that our final days together were fast approaching. Our batch farewell took place, where we danced in sarees until 1 am. It was my first time participating in the dance extravaganza. Everything felt just perfect.
I would like to share a few learnings from my college life with my juniors. The first is to prioritize your commitments and stick to them. It can be overwhelming to have the desire to do everything, but time is limited. If you try to do everything, you may need help to focus on something, which could affect your results. I personally struggled with overloaded schedules and found it challenging. I don’t mean to say that you shouldn’t have fun. It’s essential to have fun and create memories, but don’t procrastinate with your academics.
Another important lesson is to talk to seniors. They have been through the same stages and faced similar challenges. They know how to solve your problems. It’s crucial to seek guidance from a senior who is genuinely helpful and not misleading or exaggerating things. Most seniors are actually eager to assist juniors.
Lastly, feeling confused and unsure about what to do next is OKAY. If things become overwhelming, it’s alright to take a break and sort things out for yourself. No one will mind that. You are surrounded by the best group of people, so feeling down, unworthy, or experiencing FOMO is natural at times, but you don’t have to let it consume you. Take your time and come back stronger. It may sound cliché, but it’s okay to cry. It helps clear your mind and enables you to think more clearly about the future. Everything is sorted lately. Overall, the memories I have created on this beautiful campus, along with these amazing people, have had a profoundly positive impact on my life.
Now, as June comes to an end, I find myself completing this. There are countless memories and events that I couldn’t decide on what to include and how to present them from different angles. But finally, I managed to complete it. I want to take a moment to express my gratitude to every person I encountered on this journey for making it all worthwhile.
IITK, you will be missed.
Jaagrati Jain, 190391 Signing off.
Written by: Jaagrati Jain
Edited by: Rudransh Goel, Zehaan Naik
Design by: Atharv Jiwane
