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In this 50th edition of As We Leave 2026, Mrdul Agarwaal, a Y21 student graduating with a double major in Economics and Computer Science & Engineering, shares an honest account of perseverance, self-belief, and the people who made every setback worth overcoming. From countless near misses to unforgettable victories, he reflects on how resilience, unwavering support, and the courage to keep going shaped his five years at IIT Kanpur into a journey far greater than he had imagined.
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.
“I was 11th on a list that could accommodate only 10 people”. I hope my story isn’t as disheartening as the first line. I have been an avid reader of the As We Leave series since my first year. I believe every story gave you a new learning that juniors could keep in mind going forward, a new perspective on life, and an insight into what campus life is for the students who just joined.
I wish there’s something you can take away from my story as well.
After the JEE Advanced Results, which were worse than what I expected. I had a prolonged discussion with my parents whether I should take BITS Pilani CSE or IIT Kanpur Economics, stubborn me chose IIT Kanpur economics.
“Kya karoge IIT mein economics padhke?”
Pata nahi, acchi nahi lagi toh branch change
“Nahi hui branch change toh?”
Toh fir double major
“Pilani mein kya dikkat hai?”
Pata nahi, bas IIT jaana hai
Even though my answers to their questions weren’t satisfactory, they were like,
“Kar lene do jo mann hai” and lo, I landed here.
The first semester started online, and it was tough to make friends since I wasn’t a fan of online meets and did not attend many. Though, we did have a few Delhi meets wherein all the Delhi people of IITK met. I had two of my old friends, Mehar and Praanshu who were my classmates in 4th class. We formed a small group of 10 odd people. The remaining semester went by in online meets with the Delhi group and preparing for the mid semester and end semesters. The first semester results were out, I performed decently but it didnt seem good enough for a branch change. I missed a couple of grades by less than a percent. Since granular grading wasn’t introduced in that semester, that dented my CPI more than I expected. I also missed the academic excellence cutoff by less than 0.1
The second semester started, with the COVID cases declining,we were called on campus. It was a bittersweet feeling, the thought of coming to college was fun, but I hadn’t stayed away from my home anytime before. We came to college in April, and were to have offline exams. With branch change dreams in sight, I tried to study as hard as I could. Apart from academics I also started playing table tennis, something I enjoyed playing before JEE preparation.
Though, I messed up my mid semester exams partly because offline exams felt new, partly because I got ill before the exams. The second half of the semester was just about managing acads and playing table tennis along with a few night outs with friends. I also started bonding with a few of my wing mates. I did decent in the remainder of the semester. The grades came out and a B became a C and an A became a B because of less than a percent. I missed the branch change cutoff by 0.1 something and again missed the academic excellence cutoff by less than 0.1. After so many close misses, a few of my friends started calling me “border line”. As much as it hurt, it was true.
Anyways after the branch change dream collapsed, I changed routes and saw a few eco seniors who went into the finance Club then did well in their lives. Therefore, my roadmap shifted from getting a branch change to getting into the finance club. I gave the finance club interview and I felt it went well, with the coordinator saying, did you write this on your own and was visibly impressed. The second round was decent. The results came out, and I wasn’t selected. I called the coordinator, and he said
“tum waiting list mein 1st pe the yaar”.
I guess he said that to give me solace, but at that point, after so many borderline misses, I broke down. I went to my room, told my roommate to give me some time and cried my heart out.
On the brighter side, I joined the chess club as a secretary and made a few of my closest friends in the coordinators and secretaries there. I still look up to Prem for any advice.
To add salt to the wound, I played my first table tennis tournament for the institute during Udghosh, where all my friends came to watch me play. I lost the match 3-0. I also dropped an institute compulsory course (TA202) which all the seniors told me not to, but my room mate, shivam and I agreed that it would be the right thing.
After the semester ended, I went for the Inter IIT Sports meet. The result was not much different from Udghosh. Our team lost and I believe the table tennis team was the first team from IIT Kanpur to be knocked out. College life wasn’t what I imagined. Though, I didn’t cry this time, I just went home and slept. I also realised that maybe, I need a break from table tennis for the moment.
Soon, the forms for the counselling service core team member came out. I thought that the only thing I was good at was giving my friends advice so why not try it. All my wing mates agreed that I should and I started filling the long forms for the same. I also had to do the course I dropped in the previous semester so I had 64 credits and 3 labs in the semester.
I just stayed in my room studying and sleeping. The results for CTMs were out. I could see Navankur being happier than me when I became a CTM. After a string of rejections, I felt relieved that I was worth at least something. That was the semester I got a dassa as well.
The semester ended and I applied for a double major.
The CSE double major had 10 seats. I was 11th on a list that could accommodate 10 people. But if I was 11th, why was my name even on that list? Turns out, I tied with the 10th person and therefore we both got the double major. I believe a funny thing about being on a borderline is that, if you try hard enough, you can always jump to the other side.
After that, we conducted interviews for AMs and SGs before welcoming Y23’s on campus.Orientation had to be one of the most hectic as well as rewarding part of my core team member journey. I made new friends in the fellow core team members , talked to juniors, tried to help them out in any way possible. I could speak to an audience of a few hundreds without much preparation and that did my confidence a world of good. I found a go to companion in Avishk, with whom I’d discuss almost everything.
This semester also brought my first college trip : Rishikesh.
Like all firsts, that trip holds a special place in my heart. I still vividly remember falling off the boat while rafting and Praanshu jumping to the other side of the boat to grab my hand.
The third year ended with me applying for a few research internships abroad without any research experience due to FOMO. Needless to say, I was rejected from all of them. I also made a half hearted attempt for an off campus internship but didn’t get any from the very few I applied to. What that meant was I would be staying on campus for the summer preparing for the internship season.
The summers on campus were unbearable due to the scorching heat. Watching others interning while I was still preparing for the internship season felt sad and the self doubt kept creeping in, what if I can’t make it?
Before I knew it, the internship tests started and the time to ponder upon those thoughts ended. I had a few shortlists in consulting companies, but I wanted to try out Quant as well, and I was not shortlisted in many of them. Though, I got a pre-interview call from my dream company. I left everything aside and prepared for that one interview. However, I felt I messed up. I called up my parents and friends and said, “yeh toh nahi ho raha”. The next day I cried till my eyes could not produce more tears. My mother kept saying you’ll get that offer. Anyways, I started to focus on the consulting shortlists I had . A few days later, I got a call that I would have an interview on Day-0 in the same company. The day came and I cried again, but this time those were tears of joy. I called up my parents and friends and they were as elated as me. From Anubhav and Navankur hugging each other when I got the offer to Vidhi showing me a text which she wrote that said “yahi company hogi” when I told her, “kuch nahi hone vala”. My friends have believed in me when I could not, they’ve treated my success as their own and I believe they’re one of the major reasons I am here.
Meanwhile, I was also selected for a week long program in Japan, The Sakura Science Program. The Japan trip followed in the next semester and it was great exploring Japan and the universities. The one thing I was deeply amazed by was the collection of pokemons they had and spent more than half my free time wandering inside the pokemon center. I had some matcha as well, and I still don’t get why people go crazy over it 🙁
As the placement season started, seeing my friends get placed brought me immense joy. It also signalled that soon, they will leave the campus and college life will not be the same again.
The eighth semester was characterised by getting closer with my Hall 1 wing with countless parties and poker nights. There wasn’t a time anyone was bored.
We also went to Goa which I would undoubtedly call the best trip of my college life.
It was exactly what one would expect, more parties, more poker nights, a lot of beaches and almost no sightseeing.
Before going for my internship, I talked to my table tennis coach and said
“Sir, mera PPO toh mushkil hai, toh captain change kardete hai”.
With a stern face, he said, “tum chinta mat karo, sab ho jayega,captain toh tum hi rahoge”
“Aur agar nahi laga toh”
“Toh Tab ki tab dekhi jayegi, accha hi hoga, aake baat karte hai”.
Throughout these 5 years, I have had people believe in me when I doubted myself, and that, to me, is the greatest gift IITK could have given.
Time flew by and the semester ended. It was time to say goodbye to the friends you made through the 4 years and embrace a campus without them in it. I had to reach home as soon as the end semester exams ended since I had a flight for my internship in a couple of days. I was the first one to leave and I still remember the line I said to my friends while leaving, “Yaar tumhare jaane ke baad college life mein life toh khatam hojayegi, bas college bachega”.
With a heavy luggage and a heavier heart, I headed back home.
The internship was amazing. I got to experience Europe’s beauty along with my first corporate experience. The fast pace of the work meant that there were times when I felt low but reading the testimonials in my yearbook always helped.
I did get a return offer after the internship which I happily accepted.
After the internship, I was welcomed by a campus that was structurally the same, but emotionally different in every aspect. There were fewer doors one could randomly knock on, less familiar faces and less poker nights of course.
I missed my wingmates a lot.
Abhishek ka sabka khayaal rakhna, Harshal ka poker mein randomly raise karna, samarth ka sabko pilana, Dhruv ka RR sunna, anchit ka “ek aur shot”, anubhav ke saath random walks, navankur ka guitar bajaana, shivam ke saath khaana order karna and Praanshu ka weird tareeke se haath ghumaana.
I had Dhruv and Shivam with me along with Batra and Krutuparna for the last year though and it was not as bad as I thought it to be.
However, after the eighth semester, college life felt a bit dull and I did miss most of my friends. I still played table tennis, and interacting with juniors of the team was therapeutic at times. We won the silver medal in the 2024 Inter IIT. We also went for the Inter IIT Sports Meet together, in which we believed we were favourites to win the gold. Sadly, we lost the semi finals and I lost my match. I had always dreamed before coming to campus that there would be a match wherein the team would need me to win and I would deliver. Unfortunately, that did not happen,and I delivered one of my worst performances till date. Since that date, picking up a racket still haunts me. I hope that will improve, but I’ll forever be grateful for the bonds that I made with the table tennis juniors.
One fine day, college ended and I was saying goodbye to the campus, for one last time. Over the 5 years, some things went according to plan and others failed terribly.
All I can say is that first year Mrdul would be proud of what final year Mrdul became. However, I also owe a lot of it to my friends who supported me throughout the journey.
Lastly, I’d just like to say,
“I was just a pawn who got promoted because of the pieces around it”
Written by: Mrdul Agarwaal
Edited by: Vedika Mimani, Shriya Suravarapu
