Disclaimer: Vox Populi, IIT Kanpur, is the exclusive owner of the information on this website. No part of this content may be duplicated, paraphrased, or interpreted in any other way without written consent from Vox Populi. If you want to reproduce any of the content on this page, please contact our chief editors directly or reach out to us by email at voxpopuli@iitk.ac.in.
In the 44th edition of As We Leave 2026, Shrimi Agrawal, a Y22 student in the Chemical Engineering, takes us through four years of college , not as a highlight reel, but as a honest, FRIENDS-coded journey of finding herself, her people, and her place.From bombing MTH111 in first year to securing a PPO at Nestlé and handling tough courses in CHE , from late-night Book Club cataloguing sessions to dancing on the basketball court in fourth year , her story reminds us that an ordinary college life, lived fully, is anything but ordinary.
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.
Writing an AWL was never really on my cards. I always believed my story was too simple and ordinary to be worth telling. But someone once told me that every story has its own unique panache and maybe that’s why I’m finally writing this. Though I’ll tell it in my own way, because I think my four years at this college can best be described through different FRIENDS moments. So, here’s my attempt at explaining them.
My Ross moment:
I came to know I had cleared JEE Advanced just like when Ross realized Rachel liked him back. There’s happiness associated with it, knowing your long-time dream finally came true. There’s also a sense of accomplishment in proving people wrong who told you to move on because it wasn’t going to happen. I think there was also this excitement of not knowing what was going to come next. I even made pros and cons lists to decide which college would be best (thankfully it didn’t backfire on me, sadly the same can’t be said for Ross.)
My Rachel moment:
Just like Rachel ran away from her wedding into a completely new adult world, going to college was such a novel experience. Leaving the comfort of home and being thrown into an environment filled with amazing new people along with horrible MTH111 was definitely an experience. But just like Rachel found Monica and people who became her family, I found my people too (thanks ICS and Laxmi, my favourite senior). Some of my best memories were with my wingies, like when nearly all 28 of us went to Burger Factory, blasting speakers in the tempo(it felt like Phoebe playing guitar when the lights went out in Episode 7).
There was also this constant feeling of not being enough, just like when Rachel kept applying for jobs and getting nowhere. I felt that a lot with clubs and first-semester courses like TA111 and MTH111, where I gave my all but still did extremely badly. But just like Rachel eventually grew and became Head of Men’s Merchandising at Ralph Lauren, I finally started to enjoy academics and do pretty well in them too.
My Chandler moment:
As I slowly became acclimated to this place, courses started feeling easier but making and maintaining friendships became tougher as our wing got scattered. It reminded me of when Chandler realized he was good at his job but that his coworkers didn’t really like him. To fix that, I tried finding my Joey through clubs and I found one in Book Club. I met some of the best people there be it my batchmates or seniors. It also helped me branch out and meet all kinds of people (including my third-year roommate, my ride-or-die, truly the Monica to my Chandler). I still remember how, just like Chandler stayed in a box for Joey during Thanksgiving, we spent nearly two continuous weeks cataloguing late into the night, even with exams approaching. Reading this back made me realize: “Could I be more obsessed with Book Club?”
I also got the opportunity to be an SG and an AM. Those are some of my most precious memories. Thanks to them, I met my six incredible Bachis. Going to Hall 4 and interacting with them was one of the highlights of my second year. I’m always reminded of the episode where Chandler, Monica, and Phoebe take care of the triplets. It really was that chaotic and fun.
It was also the time I got introduced to CHE courses. While I didn’t particularly enjoy them, I stuck with them for so long because I had to, and studying them slowly became natural and comfortable (again, very Chandler-and-his-transponster-job coded). Thankfully, just like Chandler eventually became a junior copywriter, I found a job where I actually get to do what I love.
My Monica Moment:
Internship season started at the beginning of third year. Just like Monica’s obsession with keeping everything clean and perfectly organized, I became obsessed with revising everything (I literally rewrote my resume 10 times before submission), followed Striver’s series in the exact order and did nearly 2–3 mock GDs daily. Thankfully, just like Monica got a near-perfect score from health inspector Larry at Alessandro’s, all that effort finally helped me secure an internship at Nestlé.
This was also the year I truly started enjoying college life. I had the best roommates, Sowmya and Neha, and we got into the craziest shenanigans, much like Monica, Rachel, and Phoebe during the George Stephanopoulos guy fiasco. A306 became my safe space, where I could share every insecurity and pain without a second thought (very much like the wedding dress episode). I truly hope everyone finds people like that in life.
Just like Monica got to attend the Hootie & the Blowfish concert, I also got the opportunity to attend a Coldplay concert with my Rachel. It remains one of my best memories from college.
Everything was going smoothly until I hit a snag with CHE352. I had one of the worst instructors, and for the first time since first semester, I cried over a course. Those 12-hour lab exams were genuinely brutal. It felt hopeless, much like when Monica got fired from her restaurant over the apparent kickback issue. But just like Monica’s friends helped her through it, my people (huge shoutout to Sruthi, Debarpita, Megha, Diya, Moni and Vedanshi, my literal rocks) helped me through that phase too. Looking back now, it all feels so trivial, though at the time, it truly felt like a mess.
My Phoebe Moment:
My internship experience reminded me a lot of the episode where Phoebe takes over as Chandler’s temporary secretary. She enters a completely unfamiliar corporate environment and doesn’t fully understand how things work initially. That was exactly how internship felt for me at first: new expectations, new jargon, unfamiliar people, and constantly feeling like everyone else already knew what they were doing. But slowly, just like Phoebe, you begin figuring things out. Feeling overwhelmed is completely normal, and I hope more people realize that. And just like Phoebe somehow became everyone’s favourite at the office, I too managed to get a PPO and make some amazing friends along the way.
Fourth year was a complete rollercoaster ride. Some of my closest friends were sitting for placements, and I got to witness the sheer grit, determination, and hard work people put in during difficult times. I truly got to see the best in people, very much like Phoebe secretly donating the $1000 she got from the soda company to a homeless woman and later giving Chandler money to help him quit smoking. Beneath all the chaos and jokes, Phoebe always showed up for the people she loved (something also evident in “The One with Stoned Guy”) and I think I saw that same kindness and selflessness in my friends this year.
This was also the year I finally started studying courses I genuinely loved (MBA courses, my beloved). I even tried research through UGP, only to realize it wasn’t really for me — very Phoebe-coded, considering she spent the entire show trying different things, from being Chandler’s secretary to selling toner and even working as an extra on Days of Our Lives, before realizing she was happiest simply being herself and doing what she genuinely loved.
The last semester was probably the best semester of college. I got to go on one final Goa trip, one of my most cherished memories, which honestly felt straight out of the Friends chaos vacations like the Las Vegas and Barbados episodes. Just like Phoebe instantly bonded with random people, like the hitchhiker she and Joey picked up on their road trip back from Vegas, I also ended up making some really amazing new friends in fourth year. Never stop branching out – you never know when you’ll find your people.
This was also the phase where life felt wonderfully unserious in the best way possible: late-night mafia games, making mehendi tattoos, dancing freely with friends on the basketball court late at night, and even trying shot chess (thanks, Dash). Much like Phoebe, I think I finally learned that life doesn’t always need to be perfectly planned to become beautiful.
My Joey Moment:
Joey has always been my favourite character from the show. His love for food and more importantly his love for his friends perfectly encapsulate the Shrimi who completed her degree.
Writing this now, after everyone has left, feels a lot like the last episode of Friends where everyone moves on to different chapters of life while you just like Joey remain stuck in that moment(or that apartment) wanting to relive it just a little longer. But just like Joey always had Chandler and friends whose doors and hearts were always open for him, having people like that makes this entire journey worth it.
So dear reader, I know this might sound cheesy in hindsight. I wasn’t someone with an extraordinary struggle story, nor did I achieve something groundbreaking, perform exceptionally POR-wise or build something incredibly innovative in college. I just had a normal college life. But by the end of it, I got to leave with a transformed version of myself, a wonderful set of friends and thankfully a degree and I think that’s more than enough.
I’ll end my AWL with my favourite quote from Friends:
“Welcome to the real world. It sucks. You’re gonna love it.” — Monica Geller.
Written by: Shrimi Agrawal
Edited by: Aryaa Kalpavriksha, Riddhi Shingte
