Life in an IIT | This IIT Roorkee BTech student is also doing a minor course from IIT Patna

I was preparing for JEE Main 2021 after Class 12. However, my health conditions deteriorated before the exam and I failed to take the exam that year. I appeared in 2022 after taking a year drop.

JEE preparation and Kota dream

Looking at my cousin taking coaching in Kota, I told my parents about my plan to go to Kota and join a JEE coaching institute. However, they said it was a waste of money and resources. My parents thought like my cousin, who could not clear the JEE Advanced exam in her first attempt, I, too, would not be able to clear it in spite of them shelling a lot of money on me.

Therefore, for my preparation, I joined a coaching institute in Class 11 in my hometown – Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh. In my drop year after my Class 12, I used several online platforms like Unacademy, YouTube, Aakash Modules online test series, and NTA Abhyas App to prepare for the exam.

After securing AIR 50332 in JEE Main and AIR 3001 in JEE Advanced, I took admission to IIT Roorkee at the mechanical engineering department. I am in my third year now.

Alongside my BTech, I am also pursuing my minors in Computer Science Engineering (CSE) from IIT Patna. My decision to explore a minor programme in CSE at IIT Patna was influenced by my friends and relatives who said that there is no scope for core branches in today’s time.

Since I did not get CSE with my rank in any top IITs and NITs, I opted for civil engineering in my first year. I thought I would upgrade my branch to CSE in my second year but I failed to do so and I landed up in mechanical engineering.

After listening to everyone, scrolling on the net, and observing last year’s placement trends, I decided to opt for CSE and at that time, I heard about IIT Patna’s minor in CSE course so I decided to join the course and therefore took admission.

Life in the IIT

I came to the institute in 2022. It was my first time away from home. It took me more than a month to adjust to hostel life and college. Managing food, grocery, and laundry took a lot of time.

The quality of food here is not that bad. I did not have a problem with food as there are night canteens in every hostel. ‘RKB ki Tapri’ in front of my hostel gate is my go-to place.

I was given a triple-sharing room in my first year, so finding a new friend did not trouble me. As I found some good friends and roommates during my first days of college, managing things became less stressful and things got sorted eventually.

Clubs, societies and managing studies

I had already planned to join the cinematic, photography, fest, and comedy clubs before joining the institute. IIT Roorkee also organises freshers week every year so that freshers can explore college culture, and meet with their seniors and batch mates. All societies and clubs also organise small events so that we can decide which one is fit for us. These helped me to find my interests and delve deeper into them.

As there was not that much academic pressure in the first year, it was easy for me to manage things.

‘Found my calling’

Being in an IIT transformed my life a lot. Before joining IIT, I was an introverted guy who was scared of crowds and loved to live alone but after coming to IIT my life took a huge turn.

I started doing what I love without getting scared. I made new friends and fulfilled my dream of travelling and exploring different places and things. I also took part in extracurricular activities like stand-ups, poetry, and trekking.

Last year, I took part in the inter-IIT cultural and sports meet. The sports meet was held at IIT Bombay and the cultural meet was conducted at IIT Kharagpur. I took part in an athletics and fashion show as well.

Daily routine

My day starts at around 7.30 am. First, I go to the mess to have breakfast and then we have classes scheduled from 9 am to 12 noon. We break for an hour for lunch and then labs are scheduled between 2 and 4 pm.

After that, I hang out with my friends, usually shoot and edit videos during the evening time and then I have my dinner at around 8 pm. To get updates about clubs and societies, I visit the Student Activity Center (SAC) before going off to sleep.

We usually hang out on the terrace of the mathematics department. In the evening, sometimes, I along with my friends go to the market which is opposite the college century gate.

Sometimes, we visit the Ganga canal. On weekends, we go to Haridwar, Rishikesh, Dehradun, and Nainital. Rishikesh is our favourite place to hang out on weekends.

What after IIT

After completing my BTech degree, I want to work in an MNC. I also want to explore the world and travel to new places that I haven’t visited yet.