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Pros of Volunteering with an NGO While in College

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The social service sector is a fast-growing one, with thousands of new nonprofit organisations coming into existence every year. Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) serving various pertinent issues have become a common occurrence, especially in the subcontinent’s bigger cities.

 

Until a couple of years ago, the concept of ‘nonprofits’ was mostly correlated with foreign organisations working in third world countries. Growing awareness and the emergence of big Indian companies paved the way for some of the earliest home-grown nonprofit organisations. Its widespread media coverage and the youth’s growing demand to help their fellow citizens have made nonprofit organisations the most favoured amongst college students. Choosing the right NGO, or in fact, making the decision to work for any NGO at all may seem like a daunting task. To simplify the same, here is a list of pros of working with a nonprofit organisation while in college:

A Novel Experience

Working for any form of nonprofit organisation can be a new, and sometimes intimidating process. If you lack prior experience of working for a non-governmental association, keeping an open mind is important. Depending on the NGO, you may get opportunities to work in remote villages, multinational companies, foreign countries etc. Meeting people from various walks of life as well as working for the welfare of those in need can prove to be a new experience altogether.

A Career-Changing Tenure

Many people find themselves falling in love with the prospect of helping other beings during their tenure with nonprofit organisations. Some may convert this new-found passion for helping others into a career and choose to continue working with these NGOs or get professional degrees, thereby gaining easy access to the world of social service.

A CV Booster

Having a snazzy Curriculum Vitae (CV) in this competitive job market is a must, especially for those looking for employment for the first time. People partake in several summer schools and competitions throughout their school and college lives. However, adding social service or even heading nonprofit organisations that come under the National Service Scheme (NSS) in colleges can add luminosity to your CV. It sets you apart from many, allowing your CV to champion over the others’.

An Edge Over Your Competitors

Modern-day Universities stress a great deal on the requirement of social service hours. They prefer applicants with at least some social service work in their academic career, over those with none. It highlights how socially responsible a student is. Foreign universities may even list social service as a mandatory requirement for entry to various courses.

Delhi has a number of nonprofit organisations on offer for those interested in an enriching experience. The Smile Foundation, Goonj, Teach for India and Circle of Animal Lovers are a few amongst the many organisations that give people of all ages a chance to help make the world a better place.

 

Feature Image Credits: Teach For India

Meher Gill
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Campus Central

Things to do in Your First Year Apart from Academics

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The first year of college is like a genie’s lamp. You rub on it and woosh! The magic arrives. Make the best out of your first year by following these tips.

The first year in college is a fantastic time for you as it is an upgradation from your monotonous school life and is a great way to step into adulthood. So buckle up as you read the list of things that are available for you to pursue in college apart from academics.

College Societies

College societies provide an incredible way to gain a lot of exposure. The University of Delhi (DU) has a vast range of college societies. From dance and music societies to the ones in the fields of theatre and debating, from the alluring fashion societies to the fanatics of literature, there are so many societies with which you can register and be a part of. What’s the wait for, then?

Organisations

Organisations like Enactus or AIESEC are among the many forums that a college student can actively be a part of. Enactus is a community of students and young entrepreneurs who work towards progress of the society and environmental issues. So if working alongside the social sector is what interests you, being a part of Enactus is a good option. Almost every college affiliated to DU has its own Enactus team, so go ahead and make the best use of it. Working along similar lines are many more organisations like ‘Tamanna’, CRY and so on. Although they are not associated with DU, being a part of them refines you and accelerates growth.

Working alongside Student Publications

Working along with student publications which encourage participating students is a good way to expand your horizons. If you’re a good writer or you feel you have immense potential in this field, do not hesitate from joining them. A few of the examples are DU Beat, Delhi Poetry Slam, The Anonymous Writer and so on.

Find your own Hamilton House

If you have followed popular culture, you’d associate Hamilton House with the vintage windows and elitist fragrances of Columbia University. Here’s a chance to create one or be a part of one. The purpose is to entail and find an area of similar interest and work upon it in work groups who meet up and discuss issues. Be it the welcoming wafts of coffee on a Starbucks outlet, or the décor of aesthetics at the Oxford Bookstore, find and create your own little secret club, or your mini ‘Dead Poets Society’.

 Explore the City’s Cherished Clubs

Be it the Indian Mountaineering Foundation or the Delhi Cycling Club, Delhi has within itself an entire array of co-curricular activities to provide to you. For reading maniacs, book clubs are a perfect opportunity to meet and interact with like-minded people. Check this link out to understand the different book clubs that you can be a part of https://notionpress.com/blog/delhi-book-clubs-that-every-bookworm-should-join/

 

Feature Image Credits: Enactus.org

Avnika Chhikara
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DUB Speak

What To Do When You Have A Crush On Your Teacher

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Teacher and student relationships are generally sources of great warmth and discussion and occasionally even friendship. However, it takes a different turn when students start developing feelings for their teachers.

It is almost like a rite of passage to pass through the feeling of being awestruck by your teacher. Your teacher is most likely a highly intelligent person (with a good dressing sense, probably) and can make esoteric concepts not just understandable but interesting for you. In such a case, it is easy to develop genuine admiration and love for your teacher. But what happens when you start having a crush on the same person?

First of all, it is important to remember that in most colleges, romantic relationships between teachers and students are illegal and would generally lead to the termination of both the parties (if found guilty). Such a relationship thus contains an element of toxicity. So, for all purposes, know that it is highly unlikely that you will end up marrying your teacher.

Having mentioned this, there have also been certain extraordinary instances where teachers and students have actually gotten together, stayed like that and even married. This does not presuppose that their love is any lesser than that of age-appropriate relationships. After all, age is just a number, right?

But, it is equally possible that the feelings you develop for your teacher is only because of your idea of him or her, and not because of the person. A teacher exerts enormous influence over a student’s life because, through him or her, the student gets exposed to different views and learns new ideas and theories. Praise lauded by teachers feels like an incentive to start working harder. Yet, it is like falling for your therapist: you actually have no real idea of who your teacher is until you actually spend some time alone with them. Teachers are like public figures, whom we put on pedestals. This means that we rarely know about their true self, their likes and dislikes, desires in life and so on. Teachers appear like a guardian angel to us and we start to depend on them immensely, especially when we are away from home. Their experience and guidance give us a sense of security.

Students for generations have waited in bated breath for their favourite teacher to come, worked extra-hard in their classes and lingered after class to have discussions with them. While this is all harmless and part of the process of attaining maturity, exploring other options is always a good idea. So, go out with your friends, exercise, listen to music, dance, cook, work hard (and not just in your crush’s subjects). These are healthy ways of not letting your teenage crush turn into an obsession.

So while you tenderly look for his face in the hallways and try to catch his eye in class, remember that if you just wait for a little while, there is always someone better around the corner. And while you do that, go ahead and stare at his cute dimples. They always make your days better. I understand.

Feature Image Credits: Pretty Little Liars via Freeform 

Sara Sohail

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The First Class: An Account of Anxiety and Apprehension

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The conception of the ‘firsts’ is raised to a pedestal and glorified by any young adult who is about to join college. There is a great deal of anticipation associated with your first day at college, but it’s your first class with the new people and the new mentors that get your heart racing. Do you relate to it? If yes, read on.

As you walk towards your first class, the hot rains of July would most likely be enveloping the lush, green gardens surrounding the campus. However, with the sweat-beads materialising out of your body, you almost overlook the beauty of the rains and rush to find your way in the big, daunting world you stepped into. The clock strikes 8:30 a.m. You realize that you’re 15 minutes early to class, but so is everybody else. A succession of thoughts engulfs your mind. You think, “Are all these people always this punctual?”, “Am I not serious enough?”, and “I’ll never get to sit on the good benches, will I?” A hundred more questions like these exasperate your awkwardly-smiling self, and dance to the tune of your misery.

As the lecturer enters the class, you ascend to greet in unison, almost hoping for her to miraculously know everything about you just by the way you wish her a good morning. As the introductory class begins, your notebooks are out. Your heart thuds in desperate anticipation of a mind-blowing revelation in the first 10 minutes of your college life. Nothing like that happens. Instead, you use your pen unnecessarily to scribble down the words being uttered by the authoritative figure before you who is moderating a gradually opening discussion.

The experience of your first class generates a wave of profuse sentiments. All around you, hands are raised, beliefs questioned and stereotypes defied. All the new phrases, all the new names, and all the newness in general makes you feel awfully overwhelmed. For a good while, you’re in awe. You’re nervous. Your feet are tapping. Your eyes are twinkling. You feel privileged.  But on the other hand, there is also a giant cloud of formidable emotions making you feel alone, scared and home-sick.

Everybody tells you that it’s going to take some time to adjust to the bout of change, to take it easy and that it will be more than okay in just a little while. However, you know in your heart that surviving this is going to challenge your mental health and strength. With time, the heavy-seeming assemblage of incomprehensible emotions will hit you in the face stronger than the heat of July ever could. But before that happens, you won’t have the opening to narrate survival stories and say, “Hey, I survived change. I changed for growth.” Your first day might be the epitome of pleasantries or a dooming quiet. Nevertheless, you must remind yourself that nothing is fixed yet. The other person is not your best friend in the whole wide world and this day would not determine the rest of your life in college. Before you comprehend it, you will be a part of it all. Don’t forget, you’re not the only one.

Feature Image Credits: brilio.net

Anushree Joshi

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Recounting My First Week at College

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The ‘firsts’ are always memorable. Here’s recounting my first week at college while hoping yours went likewise.

Truest of joys are lived in the coalescence of our dreams. The 20th of July 2018 marked my Orientation Day in college, and it also marked the day I saw my dream of studying at the University of Delhi (DU) come true. While thousands of us approached our colleges in the highest of spirits,  there was a great deal of anxiety too. However, as the week progressed, the anxiety also dwindled. Thankfully, the weather has been blissful, if the resulting muck is not to be accounted for. But this week has been an amazingly informative and inspiring one. The atmosphere increasingly becomes more intoxicating! However, it goes without saying that some inherent downsides were also present. Henceforth, I have endeavored to be more realistic in my account.

Our fear of crowds, seniors, and our own batchmates takes root from the fear of judgement. In this regard, a senior of mine told me, “Everyone judges you, but this is why you are here. You judge people and find in them the requisite companionship. Do not fear this judgement. This is your time, live it fully. Let nothing hold you back.” As repetitive as it sounds, it is an absolute truth. Initially, I was afraid of being laughed at. I feared that a wrong answer to a question would probably diminish my credit among rest of the stellar performers who have made it to my college and course. But at the same time, I reminded myself that if one can make people laugh, it is his or her victory. However, if they laugh mockingly, it is their loss. This week I have learned so much about the discipline that I always dreamt of studying, that every moment in learning this discipline has been an insightful and learning experience.

Undoubtedly, another highlight would be the brilliant people I have come to know. From the learned to the rad, all my seniors have offered the best advise and counsel. A large number of us came here hoping to find friends for life. While many have already struck similar chords with like-minded people, many others have not been as fortunate. After years of being with their high school friends, they find it difficult to fill the void of companionship in a week. Give yourself and others some time because all good things take time, after all. But remember to remain original and true to yourself while creating new bonds, because you are all you have to offer. Presenting any other version of yourself would not do justice to who you inherently are.

Today, after a week of walking straight into a dream, it still feels surreal. And very ideally, it will always be. I do not presume I have learned all in a week, neither should you. But I have witnessed a change already, as have we all. Acceptance and compassion start with us. We all are afraid, varyingly if not equally. But it is in the nature of fear to take away our happiness. Fear is the end of growth. Opportunities will come, but your endeavor to grasp them will determine everything. This idea is my greatest takeaway from this week. Most colleges have commenced their registrations for enrolling the excited freshers in a number of societies – possibly the most celebratory avenues in colleges. Before I entered the gates of my college, I was told about societies,  “Join them all, even the ones you find remotely interesting. Live them fully, as per your interests. Do not ever hesitate.” Now whenever I enter them, my conviction strengthens.

Believe and thrive, grasp and grow. I hope you have an adventure as great as you deserve. I hope we all do. With the first week’s closure, I know one thing for sure, that I will have loads of fun. Will you?

 

Feature Image Credits: Kartik Chauhan for DU Beat

Kartik Chauhan

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Campus Central

Opportunities You Will Inevitably Get in College

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You can do anything if you really want to! Even if you get nothing to learn in college, there are some opportunities that are inevitably provided to you.

You must have often heard people talking about how there are never enough opportunities for them in college. They substantiate their argument by claiming that somebody else always takes it up or their college is not supportive of the same. However, you need to realize that these are excuses. You can do everything you want to! Even if nothing works out, there are some opportunities inevitably provided to you in college. How you use them and whether you use them at all is up to you. So, regardless of your overall experience as a college student, you will get the following opportunities in your college life:

Connecting with Like-minded People

College is the best time to create a social cum professional network, through which you can access opportunities later in life. This network of contacts might help you climb the ladder of career even after college ends. However, the benefits availed through these contacts is not unidirectional. You would also have to help some of these people later in life. This is a place where all the people around you are like-minded by the virtue of being in the same course of study or field of interest as you. Furthermore, because college societies provide a platform for people with similar interests to come together, the same provides a fertile ground for nourishing your network of contacts.

Pursuing a Hobby

College gives you the scope of doing something other than studies. Your Curriculum Vitae (CV) is not built just on the basis of your grade point. Besides helping you to indulge in and rear your hobbies, there are several other opportunities that are accessed if you join a college society or do internships. It may get difficult and tiring and but it is worth it. It teaches you how to manage time and work under stress. Hobbies are great escapes from the monotony of academics as well.

Exploring and Failing

Now, though it may sound strange, you need to realize that the option of exploring and failing is actually an opportunity. You are just in college and are still exploring your life and career options. Therefore, it is your time to go and explore all you can – food places, sectors of interest, jobs and careers, offices and other possibilities for the future. You are allowed to get a “feel” of what you want and choose accordingly. When people around you see you as a fresher or just as a college student, they understand that you are allowed to commit mistakes and learn from them. Many will also want to teach you how to move past mistakes! This becomes very conducive for your growth and development as a person. College is that place which allows you to fail at things and still not be socially disregarded.

 

Feature Image Credits: HuffPost

 

Khyati Sanger

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Campus Central

Things To Do When You Encounter College Life for the First Time

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We are often very busy worrying and preparing for the first few days of college. In the process, we tend to forget some things that can enhance our experience as we step into our college for the first time. Here are a few of those reminders:

Take a Few Pictures

It is understandable that when one first encounters life as a college student, one’s priorities are really different. But it is a good idea to take a few pictures here and there, during the day. Not only will you thank yourself for it later, but you might also want to remember what you wore on day one, or perhaps recreate a similar photo at the end of your college life. It is an important phase of life and you would want to capture it a little.

Build Strong Networks of Contact With Seniors

It is good to build contact networks with people who can help you expel your confusions and doubts on the first few days itself. The seniors are generally very enthusiastic to invite the freshers and are mostly willing to share what they know with them. It will be all the more productive if you can exchange numbers with the Union Members of your department in college and ask them to coordinate a small interactive session between your class and the seniors’ classes.

Be Presentable

The first impression is not always the last impression, but it is important. Be yourself and do not overdo anything. However, at the same time, try to be presentable in how you look and what you do. You will feel confident if you look amazing on day one itself. Besides being on time for college, you must also be presentable in the way you treat people.. While maintaining your politeness,  you must also be bold in whatever you do. This will help you interact with like-minded people and maybe even create some good friends!

Understand That Everyone Feels Similar to How You Feel

You need to remember that you are not the only one feeling confused, apprehensive, self-conscious and even excited! Everyone around you feels the same way. They are as desperate to make friends, as excited for what the future holds and as confused about how a college functions. You are not alone and the confusion and uncertainty settle after some time. You won’t even be able to discern when your college would become home to you. Before you know it, you would be laughing with your friends about all the insecurities and first impressions you had of each other on day one of college.

 

Feature Image Credits: Hindustan Times

Khyati Sanger

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Myths About College Life Busted!

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When we have not experienced something first hand, we tend to believe anything that is a popular opinion regarding it. So, if you are a fresher then you tend to believe everything that into pop culture and select Instagram posts show about college. However, not all of what you see is true. Here are some of the myths about college. Let’s bust them!

1. You won’t have to study

Just get your school life done with. Do your class 12 well and that is about it. You don’t have to study at college, you’ll pass all exams!

Let us take this moment to call you out of this misconception. You must or should have been really worried about your class 12 results and you should have worked hard for them. And, just to make sure you give it your all, people tell you that the struggle ends after your school is over. Definitely, college is not as hard as that until the last year. However, it does not mean you don’t have to study at all. Your score from semester one to the last semester adds up to count the final percentage at the end of your college, which will not only stick to your CV for the rest of your life but also play a crucial role in getting you a job or further admissions.

2. Life will suddenly turn into a Karan Johar movie

When your college is about to begin, your parents will take you out for shopping and your friends at college will talk about the freedom and fun you’re about to throw yourself into. With all the amazing clothes and stories given to you, you might begin daydreaming about your college life as one of those KJo movies. Yes, a few moments might definitely be like you’re on the golden screen. However, it is important to remember and be prepared for the fact that not everything will be as glamorous. There will be failures, heartbreaks and god forbid, bad hair days!  But what do all the protagonists do when in trouble? Get back up and emerge out of it!

3. You will get friends for life

This is not true for everybody. You do get contacts for life. You will receive and give several calls to your college mates throughout your life, for work. However, you might not remain tight friends with them. While in college, you will definitely have a ‘gang’ of friends. However, people tend to get scattered and busy once college ends. Only lucky people are able to sustain these lifelong friendships. But, the good news is that you are living in the era of social media. Most of your friends might be just one tap away from you, therefore, you have a great possibility to remain in touch for a long while.

4. You have to defend yourself in this cold world

Your parents are seeing you grow as you enter the new college environment. They have seen and been in touch with your school, earlier. They used to trust the school, its people, and its rules well. However, they now are a little paranoid about college. They will tell you all sorts of precautions you have to take to defend yourself in the ‘cold world’ you’re about to enter. However, it is not true. Do not pull up your guards or over think about anything at college. It will just cause mistrust. College is as warm as a school if you want it to be. There will be well-wishers, there will be competitors like there always are at every place! Just remember to take sensible decisions and really know a person before relying on them. That done, you are good to go!

Feature Image Credit: Hindustan Times

Khyati Sanger

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A Few Firsts of College Life

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College life is a whole new experience, where we break out from our mold and dip our toes into things we haven’t tried before. These experiences, and the beauty of these “firsts” makes college even more special. 

We often hear our parents gush over memories of our first word, or the first step we took as babies, but the value of firsts is something we understand for ourselves as we go through the journey of adolescence into adulthood.

By the age of sixteen or seventeen most people from our generation are guilty of exclaiming ‘I am not a child anymore’ to our parents. There are several things that may trigger this response, it could be something as simple as a protest against being yelled at for not keeping our room tidy, or calling out our parents’ hypocrisy for calling us adults in some instances, and children in others, but what really makes us believe this statement, is the yearning to actually be an adult.

When younger, we fantasize about the romantic lifestyle we’ll lead as grown ups. Driving, going out without permission, having our own salary to spend as we wish, contribute to the fantastical delusion of what adulthood is actually like.  Once out of school, we come a step closer to this romanticized idea of growing up. While our reality is still somewhat clouded in college, what makes college life so interesting are the many firsts we experience.

The first year of college, is the starting point of most firsts for many people. Indian parents are infamous for over protecting their children for most part of their lives, but from this unconscious coddling comes something magical, the gift of experiencing the many (previously forbidden) firsts life has to offer. Lets address the most fantasized about first, one’s first love. Before entering college, we not only graduate from school, but also graduate from meager crushes, to being open to full fledged, unabashed, untamed love. The diverse crowd of college presents the bright eyed with limitless opportunities to fall madly and deeply into love, away from the prying eyes of parents. Caste, colour, culture and identity merge into one big word, ‘human’ and you let yourself, maybe even for the first time, experience intense emotion for another human being. Films like Rang De Basanti start to seem more romantic than tragic, and you consider yourself to be ‘alive’ for the very first time.

While your first love may make you feel more alive than ever, the next first is more of an escape. A lot of us have our first drink in college. We are introduced to the world of parties and clubs, which are incomplete without, alcohol. A rookie favourite, vodka and rum are a broke college kid’s best friend. The feeling of ‘nothing’s happening’ to ‘I’m not drunk’ (when you clearly are), become memories to cherish, and of course, so does the time you puke your guts out after one too many shots. The mind numbing first experience everyone has with alcohol, not only helps place you in the category of ‘light weight’ or heavy weight’ but also brings with it the joy of shutting does unwanted overthinking and unnecessary stress. However, being sensible about your intake of alcohol is extremely important and drinking responsibly is something your future self will thank you for.

The next first is something most experienced by  Delhi newbies. If you’ve just moved to the city for college, the metro at first may seem like a task but will eventually become your best friend, and definitely a cherish-able first. It’s not uncommon for your first metro experience to be somewhat confusing. You’re overwhelmed by the different coloured lines and stations, and somewhat disappointed when your  destination is not right outside the metro station. You may end up staring at the map for a while, only to discover your savior in the coloured footsteps which lead you right to your platform. The metro card becomes as important as your debit card, and the panic you experience on forgetting it is almost at par with the torture of standing in the long token line that follows that. We can honestly thank our stars for the inexpensive and fast travel the metro has to offer and can’t imagine life without it.

This first may be an unpopular opinion when it comes to the theme of ‘cherish-able firsts’, but it definitely deserves a spot in the list owing to its novelty in terms of work experience. This is a first which majority of people experience only after entering college, and can also come under the category of  ‘forced firsts’. Internships for some may be the best first work experiences for some, and the worst for others. No work, odd jobs and moody bosses are familiar to anybody who’s ever interned, but on the flip-side, great bosses, amazing learning experiences and meeting wonderful people are too part and parcel of the internship experience.Whether you have a good experience or a bad one at your first internship, you are bound to leave having learnt something new.

College life offers so much to each one of us, friends, memories and learning experiences for a lifetimes. These memorable firsts,  generously sprinkled here and there make college life beautiful and memorable.

Feature Image Credits – Hindustan Times

Meher Gill

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Why it’s Okay that You Didn’t Get into Your Dream College

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Admissions bring with them their own turmoil and chaos. While they fulfil a lot of dreams, they also break a few hearts. Either way, not everyone makes it to the college of their dreams. Here is why it’s okay:
When it comes to Delhi University, you don’t really get to choose your college, your college chooses you. While that might be true, there is a lot more to it than what meets the eye. Every single year, the cut-offs soar a little higher, the percentages drop down a notch, and the stress levels skyrocket.

There are queues of thousands of applicants outside every college in campus, wishing to meet the cut-off and get a seat in their desired course. However, as accessible as the colleges sound at times, not everyone gets into their dream college, mostly due to no fault of their own.

At this point of time, it is absolutely natural for you to feel nervous and confused. However, looking for someone to blame and beating yourself over it will not get you anything. It is completely okay to feel disappointed and dwell in your feelings, but carrying this disappointment to the first day of this new journey, is not the best choice. If you decide to call this a failure on your part, let it be a failure that makes you strive harder in the future, and accept it on its face value. Dealing with it positively is so important for entering this new journey.

College is a big step of life and wherever you end up, it plays a pivotal role. College merely serves as a platform, more than anything, it always depends on how you want to use that platform. There is no right or wrong to the path of success, and your college definitely does not determine the path you seek. You can take any path, strive hard, and still get to your destination. The college will provide you with a lot of opportunities, but it is completely up to you to utilise those opportunities.

Step into college with optimism, and you will be greeted by a new home and family. Within the first month, you will meet people who will understand you and the kind of turmoil that is within you, and you will find support through thick and thin. You will soon adjust to this new environment and learn to love it like home.

Good luck for all that is ahead!

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat

Muskan Sethi

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