‘Contesting IIT-Madras election made me confident,’ says BTech student | Life in an IIT

I secured a seat in Computer Science Engineering at IIT Madras and now I am in my fourth year. Our batch was started online amid the pandemic and I came to the campus in December 2021. 

‘Contesting the IIT-Madras election made me a confident person,’ says BTech student.

I am from a small village in Rewa, Madhya Pradesh where there is no assurance of 24/7 electricity facilities. My family is involved in farming. Due to the lack of basic and proper study facilities in my village, I did my schooling in Bhopal. 

JEE Main Journey

After knowing what IITs are, I was sure I had to appear for JEE Advanced. I did not have the funds to join any coaching. I used my smartphone to watch free videos on JEE Main and JEE Advanced preparation. Although I changed the books and strategies for JEE Advanced after clearing JEE Main, I completely relied on free online resources to clear the engineering entrance exam.

I am a CISCE board student. I scored 92 per cent marks in ICSE Class 10 and in Class 12, I scored 95 per cent marks.

Life at IIT Madras

During my early days at IIT Madras, I found it difficult to cope with college life including meeting people, socialising and exchanging ideas. But soon after I attended classes, talked to my classmates and professors, and made friends, I became comfortable and adapted to the new environment.

Life at IIT Madras is awesome. It is completely a life-changing journey for me. Throughout my school life, I was a shy student. Unlike teenagers of my age, I had no idea of superheroes, Avengers series etc. While my classmates used to discuss various topics like films, viral videos etc, I felt left out. This made me an introvert.

However, a few of my friends pestered me to contest the college elections. I resisted it but then later made up my mind to give it a try. I won the elections and the overall experience had an impact on me. I became more vocal and now better express myself.

Next, I became the secretary of my hostel and with that, I had to interact with around 400 people. Talking to them and exchanging ideas after classes, all made me a lot more confident person and groomed my personality.

Now, I am the head of around 10 different committees including the institute executive committee, academic mentorship cell, and institute web operations team. I attend the committee meetings after my classes get over in the afternoon. During my free time, I also work on self-development skills like competitive programming, coding, etc.

Along with academics, there are so many things here that a student gets to experience — clubs, student elections, participating in events and building teamwork. The opportunity IIT Madras has given me is tremendous and I am happy that I belong to such an institute.