#First Day Of College Is #Right Ahead by Manisha Panchal

#First Day Of College Is #Right Ahead 

Anticipation of meeting new people,the confusion of a new environment, the anxiety of the amount of work to do and perhaps the excitement of preparing your future. Those of us who are college veterans will never forget our freshman year at college. Some of us may like to forget our freshman year ,but in general it is a time filled with an anticipation, some anxiety, and wonderful discoveries.

For faculty, each year is a new beginning; new faces, new energy, and new discussions differ for many of these first-time students.

College is definitely a whole different ballgame compared to high school. Everyone has told you and you have probably spent the last two months of summer break psyching yourself up for the moment you walk on campus. But the truth is college is totally different. Classes are all throughout the day, you have no one telling you what to do in your free time, and of course, classes are everywhere across the campus. No one wants to end up walking around the campus.

When the first day of classes arrives, gives yourself enough time to shower,drink coffee, and perform all your other morning rituals. You're going to be excited and a little nervous about your first class, which is totally natural. Just stay calm and you will make it through the day. And ask for help when you need it: every student on campus has experienced what you are going through , and they will all be able to guide you through your first day.

The college experience is one that holds many pleasant memories, you may begin the journey as a scared mice, out in the open desert but make the best of it and trudge forward becoming a 'willful tiger'.

Make your first day with some of the good memories because it will not get back again ever.

Enjoy the Day,You can never have another first day of your first year of college classes.

Survival Tips For The Freshers' By Manveen Kaur

Survival Tips For The Freshers'

• ALWAYS BE YOURSELF 
  It’s never a good idea to try to put on a mask or fake it; people will see straight through it and you’ll feel much more comfortable if you are not trying to be someone you’re not. With time, you will unavoidably and certainly change and grow up, but that comes with the experience, not because you’re trying too hard. Just take it easy.
• DON’T BE SHY
  Don’t be afraid to start up random conversations with people you just happen to be standing next to – that is how you make your new friends. Its highly likely, they’re just as nervous as you and will welcome the chance to have a conversation! Even if you normally wouldn’t make the first move to introduce yourself to somebody, make the effort and others will be grateful. Remember that you’re all sailing in the same boat.
• INTERACT WITH YOUR SENIORS
  Your seniors have been there and done that. Nobody knows the college better than they do. They are possibly one of those few people who can actually acquaint you with the do’s and dont’s. Since they’ve already been through these experiences they may also be able to empathise well with you and lend a helping hand wherever you get stuck.
• WORK HARD – PARTY HARDER
  “Once you’ve got into a college of your choice, you don’t need to work at all” This is something you must have heard all this while. Let me tell you, this is far away from what the truth is. College life can be darn exhausting, its all about striking the right balance – yes, it’s important to take your classes seriously, but it’s equally necessary to cut loose and have fun during your undergraduate years. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Go make some memories out there.
• SIGN UP FOR THE SOCIETIES
  Sign up to any clubs that slightly interest you. College life is the time to experiment and realise your hidden potentials. Bring out the actor/singer/artist you’ve kept hidden for so long.
• GO WITH THE FLOW
  Try not to worry if everyone isn’t as friendly as you are – it’s likely you won’t get on with everyone you meet on your first day. You’re bound to make lots of friends outside your department as well so you don’t have to feel like a social outcast. You’ve probably had everyone telling you that you’ll meet your friends for life in college. Many freshers thus find themselves engulfed in a wild panic after apparently having not discovered these special people just a few days in. Though many great friendships are made in the first few weeks, many, many more are made throughout the year and there will be plenty of opportunities to meet your future soul-mates.
• FEELING HOMESICK IS ALRIGHT
  For time immemorial, there have been freshers crying hysterically on the phone to their parents about how college has been a disappointment and way below their expectations. You may hate it and want to go home immediately. This is completely normal. Moving to a different town or city – often for the first time, away from regular, happy routines that you’ve developed over nearly two decades – can be a massive shock to the system. Remember you may not feel at home instantly. It is going to take some TIME. Dont give up, give it a chance. It’ll pass.
• GET TO KNOW YOUR SURROUNDINGS
  Get acquainted with your university and campus beforehand (take a trip up there with your parents or friends) especially if you are living on campus, get to know the halls and area of the college so you’ll feel more confident.
• EXPERIMENT 
  Student life is the chance to express yourself in a way that you were maybe unable to do so back home, limited perhaps by parental pressure, or a basic lack of opportunity. So by all means, die your hair purple,get those dreadlocks you’ve been wanting for so long, get your eyebrow pierced, buy a top hat and wander round campus in pyjamas, if that floats your boat. Always remember fashion may come and go but style goes on forever.
• DON’T SUCCUMB TO PEER PRESSURE
  Everyone wants plenty of friends to hang out with, and chill out with but there is also the peer pressure that comes when they feel they have to do something their friends want to do, and if they don’t they will either be isolated, rejected, teased/bullied. Insecurity creeps in and they just go with it against their better judgement. This is something you may feel in college. People may ask you to do things you may not want to do. Don’t feel sorry for yourself. Stand by your words and say NO.
• THINK BROADER
  You do need to live in harmony, so be amiable, don’t make assumptions based on appearances. This is a rare opportunity for expanding your horizons, so even if someone doesn’t seem your type, give them a chance. Northerners, southerners, rich kids, poor kids, nerds, gays, straights, party lovers, fashionistas, potheads, showoffs, spoil brats – they’ll all be there in your college, but life is immeasurably richer by getting to know them.
• ENGAGE IN AS MANY SOCIAL EVENTS AS POSSIBLE 
  Try to go to as many social events as possible. It may be a little tiring, and you’re unlikely to remember everyone later, but the more people you meet now, the more you will bump into other people you will recognize and can chat with later on.
• MAKE THE BEST OF IT.
  College life lasts just for mere 3 years. These three years will pass even before you realise. You will have a more flexible schedule. Notice I didn’t say “free time.” You may technically have a class at 8 am, but as a college student, you may get a lot of time to yourself too. So use this time wisely. Learn new languages, interact with different people, go beyond your comfort zone, go crazy. Remember what they say? You’re only young once!

First Cut-off blues by Neeraj V Murali

First Cut-off blues

Waiting for the to-be-released first-cutoff list is worse than waiting for your board results. I believe most of us can accurately gauge the range within which we will score, right? Of course, there are exceptional cases wherein an expected 80% boomerangs to 95% or glides down smoothly to settle at 72%. However, after the first few bursts of euphoria, you begin to have trepid moments. Even after having scored a comfortable 90%+, uncertainty hovers around you. Some 3 lakh applicants and just 54000 seats, isn’t it an unequal ratio?

On top of that, news pours in about how thousands of students have scored above 90% and are vying for the popular courses. Your confidence falls a notch below. You feel as if your whole life has been a white lie. At every juncture, you’ve told that inevitably, you should work hard till twelfth grade and then, you’ll have a golden life ahead. Golden life, eh? The only golden moment is perhaps, with your scores, you can tape nagging relatives’ wily mouths. Else, you realize that your destiny is papered down with stressful events and a pressurized life.

The open days perhaps serve as the best booster to your confidence.  You assure yourselves with the fact that perhaps, the competition isn’t so high and you might bag a seat. Tense moments return with some friends asking you to lend an ear to their voracious complaints. Usually, it is a well-prepared rant against their parent, the CBSE, the teachers, the examiners, the school watchman and in fact, anyone. For, they had scored a low score just because of these anti-student forces, but not because they hadn’t even cared to study.

However, as the days pass quickly, you find yourself forgetting about the cut-offs. You adopt a carefree attitude and shrug your shoulders every time someone mentions impending doom. After all, is it worth worrying so much about the future? All the same, as the first cut-offs are released, you sit back and wonder whether it was worth waiting for this disastrous surprise. Perhaps, inwardly, you had expected it – every college posted 98s’ & 97s’. Why, some had 100 as the required percentile!

You just let yourself be swathed away in waves of ultimate misery and desolation. Ah! But, it is hard to be born and succeed in India, eh? Stripped of every comfortable feeling, you devoutly hope the colleges will be compassionate enough in the next cut-off. Hopefully, you will pass through this agony unscathed and in late-August, be seated in a college and course of your choice!

Good Luck, newbies! This is an agonizing experience, but a memorable one too! Keep your eyes peeled for the cut-offs and hope for the best!

Initial #jitters make way for a #thrilling journey by Shubhra Sharma

The early jitters make way for a thrilling journey

Passing class 12th felt like a great achievement. 

Yes! 

The sweet time and moments were to be missed but a whole new outside world seemed welcoming with open arms. No more uniforms, scoldings for the open hair or the long nails, stuffed bags with books and early morning till afternoon continuous classes. 

Ah! The thought was fascinating. 

From outside college seemed somewhat like roller-coaster ride, as described by many. A complete freedom package with endless bunks, movies, food, parties, fests, hangouts, friendships and more. 

College, the synonym for fun was thought by all.

But when I recall my first day at college or even the first two weeks, it was different.

First was the Orientation Day where we sat among thousands of unfamiliar faces, listening to professors praising the college and enlightening us on the importance of studying and the value of college life. Too much of academics anyhow. Then dispersed to classes and again among a bunch of students and all of different traits. Short, loud, cheesy, smart, pretty, funny, dumb, dominant and the over-smart ones too. Strangely these people whom you met minutes ago were the ones you were supposed to spend whole your college life with and some of them might become your friends for rest of your lives.

First day of college involves more of judging people on their looks, clothes, accent, bags, hair or walk,  rather than magically clicking with each other and becoming friends for life, can happen though if you’re lucky. 

You don’t  remember their names so you give them nicknames in your minds and try and remember them through it, you can later, after an year or so discuss all about those initial days and laugh.

First few days come like a constant cycle of coming to college and grabbing a rickshaw or walking till the metro station and going home immediately after classes.. Certainly not like the perceptions of college. Later on when you get to know people more and make close friends, those breaks between classes which earlier seem frustrating, all of a sudden become thrilling for all the fun among friends. Its crazy sometimes you meet people and they change your lives forever.  

College life is incredible! 

It may take some to adjust and open up with others but after a while it’ll become the phase of your life which comes only once and will be cherished forever.

So to all the youngsters gearing up to enter the colleges, things can seem a little hard while choosing the college, getting your course and adjusting in the new environment but when you do, it’ll all be worth it and the struggle won’t matter.

All The Best,

Cheers