Aishwarya Agarwal is Y17 B.Tech student from the Department of Material Sciences and Engineering. He shares his experiences of the highs and lows of his IITK journey with this As We Leave piece.
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 just completed my last examination at IITK an hour ago, and after denying it for over a year, it’s finally setting in that my college days are over. My journey was unorthodox, but looking back, all I can see are good memories. Sleepless nights at the foyer, night long volleyball matches at Hall-2, those Antargani meetings at Hall-1 and the gazal night at Ostwal’s ended up being a month-long stay of all of my friends at his room. Although I faced the worst rejection one could ever think of (rejection from the SPO), I end my journey with a smile on my face because if IITK has taught me one thing it’s “Resilience is Ones’ Armour”.
I entered IITK with many expectations in my heart and “Branch Change” in my mind. My baapu was a 9 pointer and the perfect person for me to ask What should be one’s approach towards academics here?. I still remember his answer like yesterday; he said, “Study as you did before 10th.” This was great news because I had the most fun, but he forgot to mention that, unlike school, one does not have to attend classes to have fun. Shortly after, I decided to be a part of the dramatics club for the simple reason that they said no pre-requisites. And this was the decision that gave me the gifts that I pride the most today…. my friends. It’s hard to believe now, but almost all my closest friends today were present with me at the time of my very first drameve-1. The first semester came and went, and I was having the time of my life, primarily because of Antaragni’17 (The best Antaragni that I witnessed.) But, only after looking at the grade sheet of the first semester did I realise that something was wrong. I got 4.6 SPI with an F in PHY-103A. I was distraught, but here I made the biggest mistake of my campus stay. I went into denial. I just didn’t care; although I gave almost no time to any extra-currics, I did not emphasise on my acads. The result was that although I improved the previous semester, I still ended my first year as a 5 pointer and with a backlog.
I had no choice but to attend the summer semester for PHY-103, and this gave me an excuse to reconnect with my friends in the dramatics club. I was becoming a part of the team, and it was all starting to feel sorted. I passed 103 and entered my second year with a CPI just below 6. Again in total denial, I refused to accept that it was something to worry about, but second-year had something much worse in store for me. It started with a bang for me as the first few days were the most fun I ever had. It was drameve-1, but this time I was a part of the second-year team, and it was a blast. Then came Antaragni, where I could not decide whether I was interested in performing or not. Thankfully this decision was made easier by dengue, which prevented me from attending most of Antaragni. However, I did not perform; I was still an active member of the team and spent most of my time at practices. It was now becoming a pattern. Every semester started positively, then I stopped attending classes, screwed my midsems, panicked for a few days and repeat the same for endsem. The third and fourth semester was no different. But as you might guess, this was not at all sustainable.
The third sem ended with a trip to inter IIT Cult meet, and it was funnnnn. The journey from Kanpur to Roorkee, then to Rishikesh and Haridwar was one to die for. It was a trip where friendships were forged by a mutual interest in rafting and stalking ;). But then came the real downfall, it followed a similar pattern as before, and it ended in probably the worst academic performance possible. My grades were F, F, F, D and C. This 2.something SPI destroyed any hope of landing an internship in the next semester and had me worried about a possible degree extension. All of this left me depressed. I came back for the summer semester and stayed away from anything that could distract me from my studies. But this, too, did not work. I was depressed and had no one to talk to. My best friend at the time, Nilay, dropped out of college which left me with no one to talk to. I was struggling to stay away from any other friends I had in the club.
In the fourth semester, I also got the post of Manager, Dramatics Events at Antaragni’19, and the only reason I did not leave the post was to give me something else to do apart from academics and away from dramatics. This is very tough, but eventually, I started enjoying it and avoiding going to Hall-1 became an excellent motive to begin attending classes. I enjoyed the rush, and soon Antaragni came. Incharge of judges, venues and teams for dramatics, I was too busy, and the days flew by. All I remember was a very hectic and equally enjoyable time for me and my fellow managers Palak and Ratnesh. Antaragni was a success because my trick worked, and I got my first A in 5 semesters. This may seem a tiny thing for most, but for me, it was a reassurance that all is not lost. This hope was significant at that moment because I knew that none of the following three semesters could be less than 60 credits if I want to complete my graduation in time.
Finally, it began, the sixth semester with a 65 credit load and three repeat courses. I decided to work with Anant on the Galaxy with a mutual agreement of not giving much time to Galaxy nukkad because that’s what screwed me over the last galaxy. It went as planned, I minded my own business, and finally, WE WON, not only Galaxy play but also Nawabs won GALAXY 2020. It meant a lot, but then COVID struck, and unknowingly my campus life was over. I left campus on 7th March 2020 to return on 14th March 2020…… It’s May 2021. I am still home.
I came home and, after just a few days, realised that if I wanted to have any chance at getting placed, I needed to start preparing right away. It was exactly what I did. For more than eight months, my day started with Arrays and ended with Dynamic Programming. Although like everyone else, I wanted to get back to campus, I also realised that I no longer have to worry about my graduation date. After all of this came December 1st. Before Day-1, I had given some programming tests and rejected the chance of even applying in most others because of my 5.24 CPI. This meant that all I had was one interview on Day-2. All my eggs were in one basket, and I couldn’t afford to let them break. But alas, it wasn’t my day. I waited for the promised 2nd round till 2 a.m. and was finally rejected with just 1 round at 4 in the morning. The rest of my interviews were pretty similar, and after the 4th interview, I realised what seniors meant that after all one has been through, it’s luck that decides the final placement. I tried for six horrible days and nights and then decided to give up hope of campus placement.
The off-campus placement had been taboo, but if anyone is reading this and feel that it’s all over if one fails in campus placements, trust me, you couldn’t be more wrong. All it takes is determination and a drive to take control of your life. I gave it all. I remade my resume, added all-new skills and even in 2 semesters, pulled my CPI from 5.24 to over six by scoring all As and Bs in my last two semesters. (Probably)
I learned the hard way that every rejection is an inspiration, and all you have to do is work on yourself and get better. Because in the end, when you would be thinking about your college life an hour after your last exam, it’s the happy memories, the lessons you’ve learned and the friends you’ve made that will come to mind.
Written by: Aishwarya Agarwal
Edited by: Jiya Yadav, Aryan Pandeya
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