After 14 yrs of schooling, every student hallucinates about a fanciful college life, full of fun and frolic! While the transition from being a school kid to a college goer is an indescribable experience, however, just like a mountain, this experience has its own peaks and valleys. Read along as we try to give words to this adventurous expedition by taking a timely peek-a-boo into the reality of college life.
The new found freedom
Before delving deep into the realities of the adult world, give yourself a pat on the back for surviving the laborious journey of schooling in a regressive system of education in India. Having aced this long yet memorable journey, you are now set to embark upon a completely unprecedented ride of college life. From fantasies of having a hike in pocket money, travelling alone, living in a new city to the far-fetched ideas of trying all sorts of whacky things and making lots of friends, college opens a pandora’s box for a student. The month of May becomes that time of the year where every 12thie realises that they were living without good clothes all this while and urgently need a wardrobe makeover. Hopes of finding the perfect match/true love for oneself too becomes a priority. The ‘college main sab chalta hai’ ideology keeps a student busy in his or her little bubble. But honestly, all play and no work is a mantra that sadly doesn’t work in college.
Within no time you’ll start cribbing about how the metro is so crowded and it has become your second home as you end up spending a crucial amount of time, each day, in commuting from home to college and vise-versa. The idea of going to new places every time also goes out of the window as you realise you don’t have money by the end of the month. The myth that college is an easy road is broken the moment you have to sign a bond for short attendance and also face the wrath of the teachers who give you nothing but sadistic looks.
The struggle and rise of the ‘Relatives’
If you think CBSE result is the last time you’ll see the rise of the relatives, you are mistaken my friend. After witnessing a gamut of emotions from elation to dejection during college admissions, relatives leave no stones unturned to unlock the next level of ‘intrusive behavior’ as their new jingle becomes ‘Iske baad age kya plan hai?’. We talked to a few students from some off-beat courses to know more.
Gairik Ghosh from Institute of Hotel Management, Ahmedabad, who is now specialising in Food Production told us, “I had frankly told my parents that I won’t be able to excel in any regular course and I won’t be able to do justice to any random course they choose for me. Cooking is what I like and I told them about the same. I had to make them understand that this field was promising enough. It was tough, but I ended up doing what I like best.”
Yamini Gupta, who is pursuing Music Honours from Miranda House College too has a similar story to share as she says, “I wanted to do something in music since the very beginning while my family wanted me to opt for a conventional course. It is sad when I have to explain to my friends and relatives that the course I am enrolled in is different and not an easy one and unlike them, during our exams and practicals, we can’t even cheat! Relatives have always been quick to question the scope of my course, what papers do I have and what benefits I’ll derive from such a degree after 3 yrs, but I am happy and content with what I have as this is what I wanted to pursue.”
College life : Level unlocked, you may resume play!
After being through a regimented system of schooling, college life does end up making you look like a lost puppy in the initial days. Unaware of the nuances of college life, you’ll take weeks to figure out how to read your time table and end up chilling the entire semester until you realise that you have exams to give in the month of November! It won’t be long once you start liking memes on Facebook about how you love your sleep and hate getting up for morning lectures. Friendships too don’t last longer than any GoT character, unless you are lucky enough to find people who stick by you through thick and thin. There also comes a time when you realise how you’ve become a guinea pig to DU’s experiments and why the world is at Sharda University after all!
Somewhere between making plans to hang out with friends to sleep becoming your best friend, college life happens. It teaches you patience, perseverance and that you’ll be judged by anybody and everybody. It is a whole new experience that no other place can offer. So shed all the inhibitions, believe in yourself and remember, in the real world, toil never ends.
Feature image credits: forums.soompi.com
Riya Chhibber
