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Journalism of Courage
— Aryan Singh
As a child, I was always interested in machines around me, be it the television, computer or other day-to-day electrical appliances. And, this curiosity led me to have a keen interest in science and how things function. Engineering felt like the most natural career option and made my determined to study at IIT.
I secured an all India rank of 5859 in the Joint Engineering Examination (JEE) Advanced 2022. It was a dream to study at one of the seven top IITs and it came true when I got selected at Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. I am a first year civil engineering student.
Moreover, I watched OTT show Rocket Boys and the deeds of scientists like APJ Abdul Kalam, Vikram Sarabhai and Homi J Bhabha have inspired me to do something for India as well.
My regular day at IIT Kanpur
In my first semester, my day used to begin at 6 am as we had our physical exercise class at 6 am. It was a refreshing experience and we used to have a lot of fun. The lectures would begin from 8 am or 9 am depending on the time table. We would then have lunch break followed by classes till 6 pm or 7 pm.
Once classes and labs are over, we have the time to ourselves. I generally like to hang out with friends, study at the library or participate in the various activities held in college. At present, we are having our inter-hall competition called Galaxy. Inter-hall means between the residence halls (hostels).
Hostels at IIT Kanpur
Our hostels or residence halls as we call them, are named numerically. I am a resident of hall number 13 and my parent hall is number 3. So, I am participating on behalf of hall number 3. At IIT Kanpur, first years stay in a different hostel, however, the second and third year students reside in a hostel depending on our branch. As I am in civil engineering, I will get hall number three for my second and third year, therefore, it is my parent hall. Fourth year students stay in hall number 1, 8 or 9.
In my hostel, some rooms are triple occupancy and some are double occupancy, I stay in a double occupancy room. My roommate is from Ranchi, Jharkhand and we are good friends. And, other than him, I am close to other students who live in my hostel wing.
I went to my home in Patna during the semester break for around a month and my mother fed me with all my favourite dishes and packed so much food that I thought it would last a month. Our second semester just started this week and the food is almost over.
Food and popular spots
The mess food is way better than my expectations and I prefer it over the canteen.
Apart from the mess and canteen we have various outlets available. One of the most popular spots is the open air theatre (OAT) where I go with friends to have pizza, rolls and shawarma. Other than that, we have a milkshake corner and another spot called Mama Mio, it has various options from Chinese to local street food. We also have a campus nursery.
Fests and fun
We recently organised our cultural and technical fests. Our cultural fest is called ‘Antaragni’, it was a four day event full of fun and frolic, we had EDM nights, nukkad nataaks, magic shows, dance offs and what not. Students from other colleges also came and performed. It was four days of pure enjoyment. Our technical fest is called ‘Techkriti’, it is a three-day event with various competitions, talk shows, workshops and more. This year, I did not participate in any of the events but I plan to do so next year.
As far as clubs are concerned, I am a volunteer for the Finance, ICG (IIT K Consulting Group) clubs. ICG provides consulting on management and data analytics.
