Life as an Engineering Student: Expectations v/s Reality!

This piece was written in 2021, almost near to the end of the worldwide restrictions imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Ahh, college life! Bunking classes, hanging out with friends, submitting assignments at the last moment, college fests, fresher’s day, romance - all these notions romanticized by the film industry were preconceived in my mind even before coming to college. But, I didn’t even have the slightest idea of what destiny had in store for me. 

While I was in 12th, I had heard of how Ahaana Krishna and Prithviraj (renowned actors from Mollywood) had won the ‘Best Fresher’ title in their college. Since then, I was eager to participate in the same. Albeit the pandemic shattered my dreams of participating in an offline Fresher’s Day fest into a thousand pieces, the online version ‘CIAO 2020’ was pretty exciting! It kept us on our toes for one whole week! But, I secretly hope to get the offline version along with our upcoming juniors. 

The transition from Peter Pan to Romeo usually happens in college. Inspired by the movie ‘Anandam’, I was eager to try my hand at romance. But, my quests to find my Juliet were in vain, as online interactions aren’t that helpful. But, I’m a witness to some of the most beautiful love stories blossoming in my class. 

I remember the time when we bunked class during our two-week-long offline session - no, it was not an actual “bunk”, but was rather an escape under the cloak of duty! During that time, we had all volunteered for the NSS, helping them to arrange the hall for ‘Blood Donation Drive’, ‘NSS Camp’, etc. But, we were caught red-handed after our visit to Lumiere, the restaurant nearby! However, luck favoured us that time, as the class was supposed to begin at 1:20 PM and we reached at the exact same time – so technically, we didn’t break any rules! 

Assignments and records are a thing in themselves. I believed my parents, I believed my teachers - I believed that the enormous academic workload will slacken after 12th. Little did I then know that it will turn out to be more colossal than ever! 

One thing which turned out to be true was how our quality of studies would deteriorate in college. In school, I would study for exams days in advance. But now, while I’m writing this at 11:07 at night, I don’t even know which all portions are to be studied for tomorrow’s series exam!

The pandemic made us lose our first-year college experience. But, the two-week-long offline session was a welcome respite from the monotonous and repetitive online classes. As no winter lasts forever, I hope colleges would reopen again, and that better days are coming.