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In the 48th and final edition of As We Leave 2025, Prateek Mishra , a Y21 student in the Department of Biological Science and Bioengineering shares his journey from a shy fresher who accidentally chose IITK to a placement-day miracle and Inter-IIT gold medalist. It is a story of stumbles, resets, and unexpected wins that proves being lost halfway doesn’t mean you won’t find your 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.
As I return for convocation, I have finally found the time to write this AWL. Yes, my joining was on 26th May, one of the earliest. But yeah, I don’t know where to begin. The feeling of having rooms with our names on them for the last time on campus is a totally indescribable feeling. But, accepting the fact that every good thing has an end, let’s see my journey from mistakenly filling this college in my JoSAA counselling to making it the most memorable part of my life. A series of failures, the most random choices with no destined route, leading to making every decision a success. A journey from an underconfident, socially-avoiding person to what I have become now. Upon joining, the highest dream I had was to present a PPT in a class of 50 people, so you can imagine what kind of guy I must have been.
Part 1: Corona to Campus
With little to no excitement for an online semester, this journey began with Zoom calls with the counselling service. I used to avoid all group Zoom calls except for those with my wingies, as they were going to be an integral part of my college life, as told by my “baap wing.” A couple of weeks later, I dared to join a department meet, and it was the first time I opened my camera, which I always used to avoid due to social fear. But it turned out to be one heck of an event, and I was part of a group that led me through my online semester. But in all those Skribbl, SmashKarts, and movie sessions, what I heavily ignored was academics, as I had no idea how important it was. But overall, the online semester paved a path for excitement to meet these people in person.
Phase 2: Streaks of Failures
As we arrived offline, I got to participate in the dance freshers (it was the first time I had danced on stage), which led to me becoming a Dance Club Secretary and giving my days and nights to the club, especially the summer workshop. But I also wanted to be a part of the Photography Club as I had a keen interest in it and wanted to learn more. But somehow, because of the Dance Club, I wasn’t even able to give the interview. And one day, the results came out. Thankfully, one of my wingiesmade it to the list, and I attended the first secretary meet of the club without even being one. And only one of the coordinators knew this. I still think how daring it was of me at that time to do that. After the meet, I was grilled heavily by all the “coordies” for doing that. But yeah, I was made part of the club due to my enthusiasm. And then it became an integral part of my campus life. But then I was not able to manage dance, photography, and academics. And my CPI even fell lower.
In the third semester, I decided to manage my time judiciously for both clubs and academics, but destiny had other plans. I suffered various health issues which led to my parents visiting campus. Then, I suffered an ankle twist 10 days before Thomso, leading to me not taking part in the Dance Club contingent for which I had prepared for months. After mid-sems, I faced some family health issues due to which I had to spend the next 1.5 months at home, which affected my academics a lot. I came back 10 days prior to end-sems, and as I had become an SG, I had orientation duties as well, which were also a way for me to distract myself from what I had gone through in the last two months. But since I had not studied since the mid-sem, my CPI fell to its lowest, such that I was not even allowed to apply for CTM, which at one point I had wanted to become. And as I was not active in both the clubs, I missed my chance at the Inter-IIT Cultural Meet 5.0 at Madras.
Also, I scored a ‘D’ grade in 28 credits in the 3rd semester, which were all physics courses (which was my weakest subject during JEE as well), and seniors of the branch told me that more such courses would come in this degree. So that’s when I decided to change my branch after the third semester, which only four people did in my batch, and that too a downgrade as per JoSAA to BSBE, after being influenced by one of my college “bhai,” Sidak.
So as I entered my fourth semester, I had missed my Inter-IIT, my CGPA was at its lowest, I was on the verge of deratificationin both clubs I was part of, unable to apply for CTM, and in a department I had no clue about.
The streak continued as I entered the 4th semester – I chose to go with the Photo Club and worked as much as I could in the first couple of months and decided to apply for the post of coordinator, for which I believe I worked decently hard, but destiny still had other plans and I was rejected for the post. Probably the biggest setback I had in the 4th semester, as I had given more than a month to the process.
Phase 3: The Series of Resetting and Struggles
As the 4th semester passed, I was able to improve my CPI a bit and had also applied for the Council Coordinator of MnC. The post was created for the first time, and we had no clue what was waiting ahead. As summer came, all of my friends started their intern prep, but I had no clue about it, as I never intended to sit for it, nor did I have any chance with the CPI I had. I then decided to pursue my school-time goal of preparing for UPSC and went home for the summer. While most of my friends secured internships, my 5th semester was spent studying for it in the library and conducting events in the MnC council. I also re-associated with the Photo Club after the summer term and thus attended Inter-IIT Cult Meet 6.0.
In the 6th semester, The initial month went in me getting involved in general elections as one of my bhai, Utkarsh was contesting for post of GenSec AnC – which he later won as well. After which, I decided to contest for the position of Institute Secretary of the Media and Cultural Council. I spent two months, talking to every councill member and knowing about the council,but again, like previous times, I lost the elections, which to be honest weren’t fair and square. I was legit at the lowest in my college life. And with that, the summer of my third year arrived.
Phase 4: The Most Uncertain Part of College Life
As all of my wingies went on for their internships, I initially had planned to continue the UPSC prep, which came to a halt during my elections, but my wingies convinced me to give placements a try, as I had crossed the 7 CPI mark. But on the other hand, I had no internship; my resume was totally empty as I hadn’t sat for the internship drive nor had I done any projects (which I never intended to as well). The only thing I had on my resume was my PoR. So I decided on May 10th that if I landed any sort of internship – literally any sort by May 25th, I’ll attempt placements. And luckily, I did get one at a startup. Even though it was of nearly no use, it did help me fill my resume. And then I also opted for summer courses, and with little to no hope for placements, I began my placement prep. The whole 7th semester was spent with placements,the tests and the prep. I had managed to improve my cpi to 7.4 but the majority of the companies either had cpi 7.5 criteria or were not opened for BSBE. As shortlists began to come in, it was of no surprise that on all of Day 1, I got one shortlist and two or three on Day 2. What I was really expecting was that if I was still unplaced by Day 5, I would go back to my UPSC preparations. But this time, too, destiny had other plans.
Phase 5: The Golden Arc
As D-Day arrived, I was aiming for Day 2 as my first day because 100+ people were shortlisted in the same company as me for Day 1. As the GD was scheduled at 12 PM, I was already late. My cycle went missing, so I ran towards H13 as fast as I could and somehow gave the GD while breathing heavily. And guess what! I didn’t make it to the next round. As I talked to the Y20s who were the company POC, they told me that my GD was decent, but I would have a chance only after all the shortlisted peeps had given their interviews, which had zero to no chance. So I sat in H13 from 2 PM and sat there until evening. I also gave an interview as a walk-in, but that company didn’t hire anyone, so it was equivalent to not giving one. I kept waiting there in a room, in the hope they would call, but nothing happened and time passed. It was 9 PM. I had already taken pills for headaches, and by 10 PM, even my wingies were convinced that I should leave and prepare for Day 2. So I started to prepare for the two companies on Day 2 while in H13 itself. Time passed and the clock hit 11:30 PM, with me having prepared for a whole other firm for the last hour and a half. I got a call from a Y20: Satvik” bhai, aaja tera interview hai.” And I was frustrated as hell after sitting for more than 10 hours in the same room, so I went with the purpose that I’ll just present myself and all the learning that I had from my PoRs and extracurriculars (because the role demanded that). Now, be ready for the climax.
The first round got over in 10 minutes. The company personnel talked internally for 5 minutes. The Senior VP of Product calls me (I was warned by my friend: “Bhai, prathna kar agar ho to ye na le”), and the second round got over in 15 minutes. And minutes later, I had my offer. Yes, a Day 1 offer for a guy who decided just months ago with an empty resume to try for placements. What happened in that half an hour will require a whole separate story, but all I would say is, the personality that you develop in your extracurriculars helped me sail through it. At that moment, I was totally awestruck. There was just complete excitement. And I hadn’t informed my family that I was sitting for placements, as they would worry unnecessarily, and my chances of securing one were not good. My friends called my mom and informed her of the offer. At first, she refused to believe it, saying it was a prank, but yes, it was a total feeling of joy and pride. Then, later, I helped all of my friends secure their offers. My whole wing got sorted by Day 2, and we had a crazy party on Day 3.I’d also like to take a moment to thank all my wingies , I owe a big share of my placement success to them.
As the arc continued, I had also volunteered for the position of Team Leader of the Digital Arts contingent (the Photography and Design & Animation clubs combined take part as one entity in the Inter-IIT Cultural Meet). I went on with full dedication, pulling all-nighters and giving it everything we had as a team for this Inter-IIT. As I was part of the Photography Club, it was a long-awaited dream of securing a gold, and this was the time. We secured a gold medal in street photography and podium finishes in four of the seven events and an overall second position trophy, which had never been achieved before. And it all felt worth it in the end. Here’s a picture of the Digital Arts Contingent which went to patna(few of the members participated in online event as well)
Phase 6: The Last Semester
I decided to try everything out there possible. Be it playing random sports (basketball, swimming, wall climbing) to making every possible trip – Triund trek, Goa, Lucknow, Ayodhya, also Honey Singh’s concert in Lucknow. I participated in Galaxy with full enthusiasm, which I was not able to do in the last two years, and here too, we bagged three gold medals out of four events and I bonded with a new set of juniors, following which we had a crazy villa party as my pool ‘NAWABS’ had won GC by a huge margin. Participated in DE, danced in the department farewell,did shoots for farewell & batch video and took part in all the graduating rituals that IITK have. Also became senator in the last semester which exposed me to a whole bunch of new people. Days were filled with events and nights with parties!Below are a few pictures from my last semester. 1.WIng in Goa 2. Bacha Wing Party. 3.Wing Photoshoot. 4. Digital Arts winning Party. 5.Photoclub farewell 6.Wing in Skribbl Day
Learnings: As a guy who was lost until halfway through his college life, one full of uncertainties, here are some learnings for all the juniors reading this:
- Always seek help – Easier said than done. Always reach out to seniors, even if you fear them or think they might not be able to solve your issue. Most of us face the same issues and go through the same cycle, so their advice will always help.
- Engage in activities apart from academics – Even though this may vary from person to person, keep on improving yourself day by day.
- Make good connections – As it has been said, “The more hands you shake, the fewer doors you have to knock on.” Try making as many connections as possible.
With this, I would like to end this AWL on a note that it’s okay to be lost—not everything will be a cakewalk on this campus. But yes, have faith in yourself that you’ll make it through.
Written by: Prateek Mishra
Edited by: Amoghsiddhu N, Mitanshi
Designed by: Pankhuri Sachan, Pragya Puri
