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In this 66th edition of As We Leave 2026, Mansi Patel, a Y22 from the department of Mechanical Engineering, looks back on a college journey woven together by friendships, resilience, and countless unforgettable moments. Through stories of growth, belonging, and the people who stood by her through every high and low, she reminds us that the most meaningful parts of college are the ones that gradually become a part of us forever.
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 procrastinate alot and same happened with this awl too thanks to medha for extending the deadlines and tolerating me. Writing this awl reminds me what kind of a person i was when I came and the change this place and the people I met here brought in me. This is just my attempt to write those memories that shaped me and incidents that would live forever with me.
1st Year
When I came to college I was excited to explore this part of life and that excitement was reciprocated in my interactions with everyone. I always tried to talk to everyone and I kinda became the opposite in my last year as I found my people and became comfortable with them. But I loved that phase too as because of that I found friendships that I can rely on till the very end of college.
I may not have learnt much academically in my first year, but I definitely lived it to the fullest. Like every average first year, I attended every intro session and tried participating in almost every event. I did not win anywhere, but along the way I made countless memories and found a group of friends that stayed with me till the very end.
All this participation and enthusiasm definitely came at the cost of my academics, but honestly, I do not regret a single minute of it. If I had to say one thing to every first year, or anyone in the initial years of college, it would be this: participate in at least one event. Winning and losing are the things that keep you going through the all nighters and the warm ups, the real thing you gain are the people. It is not guaranteed that they will stay forever, but one thing is certain they will always be there whenever you want to have fun or when you genuinely need help.
Apart from all the events and activities, there was my wing (E1-113), the place where I probably had the most fun. Whether it was making “reel-to-real” videos on Daaru Daaru or randomly gathering in the corridor and doing absolute nonsense, we had so much enthu that we used to reach the pronite ground at sharp 7pm, also we didn’t have much going XD. all that slowly made a hostel room feel like home.
At first, it feels absurd that you have to spend four of the most important years of your life with strangers coming from places you may not have even heard of before. But IITK’s culture makes it so easy to forget that fact. Every event starts feeling less like a college activity and more like a family function.
Little did I know that after such an eventful year, I was about to enter a phase where I would finally start questioning why I came here and what I was actually doing.
2nd Year
The second year was the year that truly made me realise what surviving IITK means.
It started with a bang because I got into a relationship, something without which my IITK journey would have felt incomplete. I met someone who was completely my opposite, yet somehow, over time, our thoughts started matching in the weirdest ways.
My roommates that year were complete opposites too. One always finished everything before time, while the other could not complete a single task without asking for an extension, and somehow I learnt many things from both of them. Meanwhile, our friend group kept on having random night-outs, making trip plans we never actually went on, exploring terraces just to watch movies at. Those became some of the best memories of college.
I remember watching movies like ZNMD in front of L8 at midnight, Midsommar in IME or just sitting in a corridor of TA building.
After doing all this bakchodi, I genuinely felt like I was on top of the world. Then one fine day, the grades came out, and I saw that I had gotten an F not in just any course, but in a DC. I was devastated.
That moment made me realise that academics are important as well. We think that we know the importance of academics but we don’t realise it until we get a setback.
At that point, there was not much I could do except figure out a way forward. Thankfully, my seniors helped me immensely. Nishita (Y21), Manasvi (my amma) guided me throughout the process and helped me figure out ways to manage my backlog.
I still remember the chaos during course registration. At one point, I was completely exhausted and just broke down crying in front of roommates. They immediately came and comforted me, and somehow that small moment felt incredibly warm and homely.
By the end of second year, I had become far more responsible and serious towards academics. I may not have achieved a great SPI, but I gained something more important: a sense of responsibility and seriousness that helped me survive the later semesters.
Alongside all this, I was also a secretary in two clubs: Prayas and the Electronics Club.
At E-Club, I may not have learned a lot technically, but I gained seniors who helped me build confidence. I realised that simply showing up consistently and being responsible also matters. I made close friends there, who became part of my college journey.
Prayas, on the other hand, was something I joined purely out of interest. Later, I applied for the manager position and got selected. I will elaborate more on that later.
Overall, the second year was long, chaotic, emotional, and full of ups and downs. But if there is one thing I truly learned, it is this: every difficult phase became bearable, and every happy phase became memorable because of the people around me. Otherwise, all would have been the same to me.
3rd Year
Third year starts with the internship race and ends with saying goodbye to some of your closest seniors. It begins with adrenaline and slowly turns emotional.
I stayed at college during the summers, internship week finally arrived the moment I had prepared for throughout those months.
I did not have much hope because I did not have an attractive CPI, or extraordinary achievements. The only thing I consistently had was believing in myself. I still remember my IITK amma telling me that sometimes all you need is one interview to showcase your skills.
I have always believed that if I have made it this far, then sooner or later I will achieve what I am meant to. Time is not always in our control, sometimes it works in our favor, and sometimes it seems determined to test us. What we do control is our belief in ourselves. Self-belief has the power to carry us through uncertainty, setbacks, and delays. Have faith that if you truly deserve something and continue working toward it, you will achieve it if not today, then someday.
As someone who felt she had nothing to lose, I carried that belief and confidence into the internship process. Then unexpectedly, I got an interview opportunity with a company. I knew it was a huge chance, so I reached out to my friends for help, and every single one of them helped me wholeheartedly. Zartaf sat with me for an entire day solving puzzles, Naman helped me revise probability, Devansh prepared puzzles with me, and Tamoghna helped me with ML concepts. With all their support, I went into the interview. There were three rounds, and luckily, I got asked a few questions that I had revised just one or two days earlier. I got lucky there.
After the interview, I sat in my friend’s room waiting for the result with very little expectation. Then the call finally came and unexpectedly, I got selected.
For a few moments, all of us were just shocked. But more than me, my friends were genuinely happy for me. I was on cloud nine, and honestly, that moment became a turning point in my IITK journey.
But the happiness did not last very long. The next day, I started hearing unpleasant comments about how I must have gotten the opportunity. Those comments brought back the same old question in my head: “Do I really deserve this?”
But eventually, I decided that instead of doubting myself, I would prove myself through hard work during the internship and aim for a PPO. Yes, maybe luck played a role somewhere, but that does not mean someone does not deserve an opportunity. Nobody knows what another person has gone through, where they come from, or how much effort they have put in. People only see your college phase and make assumptions about what you deserve.
I feel deservingness is not something others decide for you. You make yourself deserving through your own efforts.
After getting my internship, most of my evenings were spent at Prayas; teaching children, resolving their fights, scolding them for not studying, and sometimes simply sitting and listening to them talk.
I initially joined Prayas in second year simply because it seemed interesting. At first, I only did whatever work my managers asked me to do. But slowly, without even realising it, that room started feeling like home.
What amazed me the most was their consistency. Even with limited resources and difficult circumstances, they showed up every single day with enthusiasm. I remember days when heavy rainfall had flooded their homes, yet many of them still came to class.
Watching them changed the way I looked at my own life. They taught me how easily we take opportunities for granted and how happiness often exists in places much simpler than we imagine.
No matter how exhausted I was, hearing a simple “Namaste didi” somehow made every day lighter.
And my 5th semester came to an end.
Then some of my friends decided to go on a trekking trip but somehow convincing everyone to go on this trek was more tough than the trek. But at the end it was worth it.
Then came the sem where having parties was a normal part of our day to day life. From the club’s end tenure to wing parties everything was fun. But with that I had a sad feeling that soon our seniors who guided us throughout the college whenever we needed them would be leaving and there would be no one to ask help for. Manasvi Jain (my sg my amma) will always be special as she always took care of our needs and helped me throughout my college journey. She is helping me after too (hehe) and someone I can easily express to. Our family meets will be missed :(, to all the gossip that we did and I hope in future this tradition continues. Also an inspiring senior, kept me motivated.
To my E club seniors, Om and Kartik. They always helped me and believed in me that I could achieve more in my life. Listening to Kartik at hall 3 gate often lasted longer than the club hours.
To my Prayas seniors, Vrinda, Akshay and Abhimanyu. Your motivation and dedication towards prayas also helped me to keep going during times when I felt low and motivated me to take this POR.
So, after bidding everyone goodbye, it was time to face the real world that is going on an internship. I was excited both as the coming 3 months will be changing many things and will give us new experiences to live on, and scared that after coming back that will be our last and final year in college as I was not ready to begin my “lasts” at IITK.
3rd year taught me the importance of friendship and showed the purity of it.
How to live with things you have and enjoy every part of it.
4th Year
I was honestly not ready for fourth year, but yes… here we goooooo.
One thing I would say before entering fourth year: keep a list of everything you want to do before college ends or just go saying yes to whatever insane plans your friends make “impromptu”. At the same time, do not get too carried away because placements are also happening this semester, and the atmosphere around you changes very quickly.
In the final year my wing tried doing everything possible before college ended, cooking together, just dance, painting, movie nights, partying, and simply spending time with each other whenever we could. Somewhere in between all this came the PPO results, and yes, I got my PPO. I guess the hard work during the internship finally paid off.
Many people in my wing also secured PPOs, but several of my friends were still sitting for placements. Later our bakchodi shifted to helping friends prepare for tests, solving questions with them, participating in competitions together, or simply boosting their confidence
And then placements finally arrived. Those three days felt endless, almost no sleep, constant tension, and continuous worrying about what would happen next. Watching my friends go through the entire process made me realise how emotionally exhausting placements truly are.
That phase made me even more grateful for the PPO and the opportunity I had received because placements are genuinely difficult, both mentally and emotionally.
But in the end, after all the stress, sleepless nights, and anxiety, their hard work paid off too. Every single one of my friends got placed.
This semester ended too soon and I didn’t realise how we were halfway through our 4th year.
Then came the final show of the last semester, a semester where you feel every possible emotion from start to end.
The final sem makes you feel like you are in your 1st year as you and all your friends are free, there are endless activities planned for you and all you do is enjoy every possible bit of it and this becomes your full circle.
At the beginning of this year, I was saddened by the thought that we would all soon leave this place, leave each other behind, and no longer be able to simply say, “Room par aajao sab.” It felt harsh and almost impossible to accept.
But as the months passed, every moment spent with friends, the trips, the rush to complete the “list,” the endless planning, the late-night poker games, badminton sessions, and all the little memories in between made me realize that this change is necessary. Everyone is meant to grow in their own direction.
In a strange way, it is the certainty that these moments won’t last forever that makes us cherish them so deeply in the present. Knowing that the future awaits us gives these days their meaning.
So yes, saying goodbye was difficult. But by the end, it was something I had learnt to accept.
I was more attached to this place and the people a bit more than others. All these years and all the people I met taught me something and that became a part of me and led me to become who I am today.
Thank you for reading this awl, there are some things that I was unable to fit in between so I thought to write it at the end. The fests, the behind the scenes and some moments that needs its own paragraph.
Fests
It was the time we always looked forward to. The most fun part was guessing the artists there were always some names and everyone used to be sure of their own set of lists, but nvm we always used to be surprised. Some of the best pronites I might never forget were Sunidhiiiiiii, Badshah and Mohmd Irfan and also the fun in attending it with all of my friends. Thanks to our friend, our makeup dada always ready with her eyeliner.
Impromptu
In our final sem our guy friends were always bothered by our “planning” so to prove them wrong we tried doing things more spontaneously and that led to having more fun than usual, like playing poker till the sunrise, then going to bithoor or sometimes to vaidyam.
We also managed to play badminton regularly our game improved or not but it surely added to the list of things I would miss.
Planned
So our wing had a mixed set of people and our enthusiasm was at different spectrums. So to make our final sem more fun and to make sure we didn’t miss on anything we made a list of things that we would love to do before college ends.
And thanks to everyone we did everything we could.
Having a sash night, movie nights, cooking became normal for us such that we opened a stall of cupcakes in Hall 6 hall day, best decision.
There are many things that I feel I didn’t cover cause idk how to put it in words as somethings are just memories that just lives with you and it’s tough to describe, but all that I want to say is thanks to all of my friends who were always there with me, for me and tolerated my “questions” XD.
Written by: Mansi Patel
Edited by: Medha Dokania, Shriya Suravarapu
