Nishu Jain is a postgraduate student in the Department of Materials Science Programme from the Y18 batch. Let’s have a look at her journey at IIT Kanpur and live the nostalgia and reminiscence with her.
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.
Like every semester, this semester also I came home for the mid-semester break. When I was leaving the campus on the evening of 8th March, I had never thought that these holidays were going to be indefinite. I was still looking forward to being back on campus after this lockdown when one day I received a message in my inbox asking me to write an article on ‘As We Leave.’ Yes. That moment hit me hard. Till then, I had not realized that the beautiful journey of my post-graduation at IIT Kanpur was going to end. The words can never be enough to summarise the time I had at IIT Kanpur but I thought of giving it a try!
Being born and brought up in Delhi, coming to Kanpur was not something that I was looking forward to. I still remember the night when I had finally confirmed my admission and the thought of going to the hostel after being a daily scholar during my undergrad days at Delhi University didn’t let me sleep. I was worried about my survival away from home, away from the city I love and away from my friends. At that time, I had no idea that I was going to a place which I would be calling my second home; a home away from home.
The very first best thing that you get to experience after arriving in this campus is the orientation and in my initial days itself, I had decided that I am going to explore the maximum opportunities in whatever little time that I had at this serene campus. Thus, I did not stop myself from getting involved in as many things as possible and went on to participate in chess competitions, workshops joined Prayas and became a member of the academic senate in my first semester itself.
On the last night of the orientation days, during the treasure hunt, I met the most amazing set of people who did not let me miss my home and friends for not even a single day. We used to spend the entire night in OAT talking nonsense, singing shit and dancing as if no one is watching. I was actually enjoying my life when the mid-semester exams happened. Being from a non-engineering background, I was finding it a little hard to compete with my classmates who had their undergraduate degree in engineering. I screwed up my first exam. The dream of scoring the perfect 10 started breaking into pieces in front of my eyes. I didn’t lose hope and ended up scoring one B and rest of As in my mark sheet.
After the satisfactory first semester, I had already fallen in love with this campus. In December, I had cut short my vacations and came a week earlier to participate in a winter orientation programme organized by Counselling Service. I was thinking that it was the most enriching experience I could have at IIT Kanpur but then the SPO happened! Words can never be enough to describe my feelings and the time that I have spent at the placement office in the Outreach Building. When the nominations for Overall Placement Coordinator came out, I filled the form in the next two minutes because I thought that I was ready to take such a huge responsibility of getting a whole batch placed, alongside my own placements and semester load. I was looking forward to a professional journey ahead and not realizing that it would become my most personal one by the time I would leave this campus!
At SPO, I got the chance to work in a team with the best bunch of people. At the start, I was afraid if I would ever be able to mix up with the people who were already working with the placement office for the last two years. I was a new one and had no idea about how things worked but thanks to my team, they never let me feel like an outsider. They were not only supportive throughout the tenure but they also respected my decisions and opinions at the same time. With time, I developed a bond with them that was not only professional but also an emotional one.
My next semester passed very quickly. With the help of the best labmates I could ask for, I was managing my thesis work and the placement preparation alongside the work of OPC which was taking up the heat with each passing day as December was approaching. Meeting these people was the only relief and the good thing on an otherwise busy day. I remember when I had screwed up my JP Morgan test and could not sleep for the whole night, they were the people who came by my side to console me and motivated me to let it go and keep looking forward. Every night of November used to come with a new shock and tension of companies backing out but I am glad that it taught me to face the difficult situations with a calm and composed attitude. I had one of the best times of my life while working in the placement office. The fifteen days of placement drive went well with us breaking the previous records and me securing a job offer on Day 1. I thought that it was over. But no, I was wrong. SPO and its people had already become a very integral part of my IIT Kanpur journey.
My life at IIT Kanpur can not be summarised without the mention of the room parties that I used to host at my place. (P.S. Just like Monika from F.R.I.E.N.D.S.) From all the heated discussions to a pleasant musical evening, from enjoying Pizza to organizing a Bhelpuri party, I have had a memorable time at my room spending moments with my friends. And not to forget all the cups of cappuccinos that I had at CCD.
One thing that IIT Kanpur has made me realize is that we can never appreciate the light if we haven’t seen the darkness. I have had my share of highs and lows here. There was a time when I felt miserable and worthless and nothing was going right. But that time gave me the strength and the chance to emerge as a stronger and a better person. I might not have got the dream placement but I have got a belief that I have the potential to pursue those dreams. This is what IITK does, it will make you realize that nothing is impossible if we are determined enough to go for it. Life here is not easy but it will make you learn to handle the difficult situations with the utmost ease. Each experience will give you a life lesson that is going to stick with you for the rest of your days. You will meet the most lovely, amazing, intelligent and wonderful people here with whom you are going to have the best time of your life.
From all the night outs to all the crazy busy days, from the first morning of the semester to the last-minute rush of the end semester exams, from spending nights in the library to sleeping all day in the hostel room, from eating dal chawal in mess to having a sandwich at CCD, I grew up. IIT Kanpur has given me something that is beyond the 9+ CPI on my mark sheet and placement on Day 1. It has made me realize that nothing can stop me from reaching heights if I keep on believing in myself. It has shown me that if managed well, there are so many things that you can do in a short span of time. Most of all, it has given me the memories that I am going to cherish for the rest of my life and the friendship of the people who I know are not going to leave me.
With the tears in my eyes, I wish to have one more day at this campus where social distancing won’t be a norm. I belong to that unfortunate batch of graduating students who do not know if there will be any last day on the campus. They will never get farewell and they will never get the department photo-shoots. Had I known that COVID-19 is going to snatch the best time of all the graduating students, I would have done all the things that I was planning to do in the last two months. Had I known this before, I would have enjoyed one more night out, grabbed one more cup of coffee, clicked one more picture in the campus and one more of everything that I had done before. Most importantly, I would have hugged my friends a little tighter before leaving.
I would be leaving IIT Kanpur with the precious moments of all the good and bad times that I had here. For a girl who was thinking of dropping out because of homesickness before joining is taking a part of this place with her as she leaves. She has a corner in her heart that will always belong to IIT Kanpur and the people she met here!
Hoping to return one last time….
Written by:- Nishu Jain
Edited by:- Aryan Pandeya.
