My journey towards the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) began with my growing interest in mathematics. I am from Delhi-NCR, and I completed my schooling at the Cambridge School, Noida. I performed fairly well in academics in middle school and improved drastically in high school. I was never particularly interested in any extracurriculars or sports while in school.
But things changed in Class 10. I became interested in mathematics in classes 11 and 12 after finishing my maths syllabus in Class 10. I started to find solving math problems and learning new concepts satisfying. I ended up solving my Class 11 and 12 NCERT textbooks for maths by the time my Class 10 board exams ended. Based on my experience solving these problems, I thought clearing the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) would not be that challenging. It was then that I decided to prepare for JEE.
I appeared for JEE in 2024. My rank in JEE Main was 2,604 (AIR) and 2,365 (AIR) in JEE Advanced. I did my entire preparation through online lectures from a coaching institute. I chose online coaching as it was more flexible and convenient for a school-going student like me. It was challenging to manage both school and online classes as I had to study as soon as I returned home from school. I often solved my coaching modules at the school itself. As I said earlier, I like mathematics and logic. So, I wanted to select a branch with as much mathematical application as possible. I ended up filling computer science, mathematics and computing, and artificial intelligence in my Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JoSAA) counselling.
I finally joined IIT Ropar in 2024 in the computer science branch. It was my first time ever staying away from home. There were a few difficulties, like adjusting to mess food, hostel life and being away from family. I miss the comfort of home and the street foods of Delhi. I also miss meeting and playing sports with my school friends. This all changed as soon as I made friends. Suddenly, college life became much more enjoyable.
It took only a few days to adjust to the IIT life. We initially did not have any classes due to the induction programme, so we had a lot of time to explore things on our own, make friends and adjust to college life. The mess food was not as bad as we expected but nowhere near as good as food at home. I quickly made a few friends and got acquainted with many people. It was very easy to make friends here as people were of the same age, academic interests and similar hobbies.
We do not have to enrol in most clubs here to participate in club activities. Our induction programme had many club activities planned by all the clubs in the college. I had much fun participating in these activities and made new friends. After the induction programme ended, I attended only the sessions of clubs that interested me, like the oratory club and software club. It is not difficult managing academics and club activities as there are no actvities planned during exam time, and club activities are often held in the evening when there are no classes.
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I have become more independent and more confident after coming to IIT. I also feel more social than I did at home because there are many like-minded people with whom I can easily relate and have similar interests. I have learned the importance of networking with like-minded people. Many people, including my parents, professors and seniors, have given the same advice. I once met my computer science professor at the railway station, and we talked about college life for about an hour. He also emphasized the importance of networking in college, which is valuable advice.
I attend my classes from morning to afternoon. After that, I play some sports like table tennis in the evening. After dinner, I hang out with my friends, play video games and study a bit. There are a few good spots to hang out on our campus. The ones we go to are the cafe, Maggi Point, and the garden. Most of my money is spent in food outlets. There are not many outlets so our options are limited. Since there is not much to spend on, I rarely spend over my budget. I like to eat Maggi from Maggi Point, eat fries from the cafeteria and drink milkshakes from the cafe. If I feel like eating something healthy, then I get eggs and paneer.
Some of the professors teach their courses really well, while some don’t. I try to attend every lecture of a course which is taught well, while for others, I try to study from the notes of our seniors to do well in the exams. Due to the institute’s mandatory 75 per cent attendance policy, we still have to attend classes of courses that are not taught as well, which is quite unfortunate.
There actually is not much to do in the city. We spend almost all of our time on campus. However, it is a good change of pace from the hustle and bustle in Noida where I live. There is much less pollution and we often see many birds and animals that don’t appear in big cities. I believe campus life is not very different from the colleges my friends are in. However, I believe IITs have better sports facilities, more networking events, big fests, and club activities.
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I play badminton and table tennis regularly. We also have our weekly sports class, during which we often play dodgeball. I have many happy memories with my friends. We spend much of our time cracking jokes, watching movies, playing sports, studying for exams, etc. We even went on a trip to a nearby hill station during our winter vacation and had a great time.
If I could change a few things about IIT life, I would improve the food quality in our mess, install air conditioners in our hostels, and open more food outlets on our campus.
After completing my BTech, I want to get some industry experience in tech. I am exploring different domains in tech and focusing on my courses to build strong fundamentals in my first year.
