As We Leave #10: The No BS IITK Survival Guide

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In this 10th edition of As We Leave, Kapu Nirmal Joshua, a Y21 student from the Electrical Engineering department, shares his journey through a rollercoaster of memories — from arriving post-COVID and mentoring juniors, to battling FOMO, finding purpose, and cherishing the quiet beauty of campus life in moments often taken for granted.

Hey everyone. As Vox Populi brings back “As We Leave” — I wanted to share a bit of my own journey through IIT Kanpur. Every journey through this college is different, and it teaches us different things and there are a lot of such lessons that I’ve recently introspected on quite a lot. As I write this on my last day at IIT Kanpur, the nostalgia that I am going through is something that is quite an experience in itself.

Some of you reading this may possibly know me from the projects I mentored with EEA/ as an academic mentor, and that is because I believe that the number one, and in fact, the best thing I did here at IIT Kanpur was help people out, and I believe that’s the first message I’d like to give to all juniors as well – is to keep helping people out. My entire life here has been marked by a lot of ups and downs and as I sit here, introspecting, I realise that EVERYTHING that has happened here, be it the unbearable lowest of the lows, to the best highs, was all for my good. All the friends I made or had a fall out with, everyone, played such a key role and I’d like to appreciate all of them – from the bestest of my friends to whom I have written very detailed testimonials to even the people that I indirectly connected with. As I reminisce, I really hope I made an impact in somebody’s life through my mentorship roles.

I remember how I was as I first came to IIT Kanpur – the innocent boy that had studied all day while locking himself in his room for over a year. COVID-19 had basically taken away all of our social skills and there we were – on campus with over 1200 students by April. Looking back on this first year, I realised that when I came here – I was very socially immature and believed that I was always the best among whom I was around. Looking back on it, weren’t we all a bit immature as we came? And I think that’s one of the best parts of college. It’s about how you change as a person completely from the inside out. It’s about how that ego dies, and that ego death is something that has happened in my life personally over these four years.

There are a lot of really common issues that I’d like to address in this AWL as well. The first of which is when people feel an extreme FOMO in their first year over the meaning of the phrase “explore in your first year.” People always believe that their purpose/meaning in what they do in life, academically or non academically must be something that is found by putting yourself “out-there” as much as possible, by joining as many clubs as possible, societies as possible, and put as much time into extracurriculars and I feel this is such a major flaw in our reasoning here at IIT Kanpur.

Exploring is such a vague concept, and it’s such a word that can be taken in so many ways. This very vagueness leads to a lot of first years having a lower CGPA than expected, and this blunder ends up ruining potential future opportunities as well. There is a very special message I’d like to address to such people feeling such FOMO: your purpose and meaning in what you would like to do with your life, is not something to be hunted for. It rather just comes to you, through your time here. Instead of exploring, the best advice would be to be in a position to keep your CGPA as high as possible in the first year. This is a real fact, and you would thank yourself for doing this, because trust me, a high CGPA is the first thing that allows you to do anything you want to.

Another very important thing to start is DSA and competitive programming as well, possibly in your first year, because more the time you can devote to it, the better you get at it, and you always feel like you’re never good at it, so starting early is a very good choice to make. These two things are something that would carry you in all the seasons of internships and placements and if ever technical advice is needed over this, I’m always open for contact 🙂

As the famous Tame Impala song says, “all this running around, trying to cover my shadow” – is a line that I’d like to include in this AWL as a message to all those feeling stressed over the fact that they aren’t doing enough. Sometimes the best things in your life, such as finding what you want to do “just happens” and that’s the beautiful part of life.

As a college itself, IIT Kanpur has been one of the best places I have ever been, and as I write this on my last day on campus, nostalgia fills me a lot. Some of the best places I’ve ever been alone on this campus include very weird places from sitting alone on the stage at the pronite ground at 7AM, to the so convenient rooftops of our hostel and other buildings, and I wish everyone could go there and appreciate the beauty of the place in which you live. Which other college has so much freedom? Do you ever stop to notice the trees? The patterns they form against the sunset? Do you ever stop to appreciate your friends, the role they play in your life? I feel like we must all stop to appreciate these small moments, that we take so granted, because as we leave, you realise that, that is what makes you up.

I’d like to end this whole story with a really nice lyric from this one song by Kanye West that explains the entire journey of college – “everything I’m not made everything I am.” I could explain it to you, what it means, but I feel like it’s something you should explore yourself 😉 Please do explore for now xD.