1st Year @ MIT – PART 1

The Long awaited post finally comes … Initially , I wanted to write this post just right after the first year exams .. but as usual circumstances did not permit me…(a very strong statement)… So , now coming to the topic ..

Well , if I had to describe the first year of college in one line , it would be ” one of the most memorable year and a year of change  ” .. the usual one liner .. But , its true , I have changed a lot during this year , my close friends(those who have known me since school) would have surely noticed .. To start with , I have made quite a lot of friends , some of them very close too….

Lets split up the first year into different parts :

First day : I arrived a day late thus missing the orientation programme..I reached Manipal at around 8 pm ( via Rajdhani from delhi then a taxi to Manipal from the udupi ) .. Me n my frnd ( Anirudh ) both of us entered the coll when it was pitch dark…. We went directly to the K Block ( my hostel) .. the caretaker ( rather Vasu anna..).. and he gave us our room keys .. we completed sum formalities.. The first impression I had when I entered my room .. “how would I stay here for one whole year ” .. the room was arnd 9 feet by 9 feet .. no bathroom (there was a common bathroom  , no ac , no tv … just a table , a chair , a bed , a godrej almirah attached to the wall ..Then we had dinner in Apurva mess ,the food was a lot better .. After settling in the room ( buying some things , unpacking etc ) to my astonishment , I had a good night sleep…

First week : I woke up at arnd 6 daily ( its too early for me) .. had a good bath … then I went to the college and back to hostel like a good college boy .. Just had random chats in the college with classmates and got to know the teachers , make a good impression ( the impression helped me a lot .. to escape fines..).. In the evenings , me and my hostel mates all sat together .. then had a good nice long chat which extended up to wee hours in the morning ..We chatted about almost anything ranging from where have come from to our ranks in the recent exams .. from our school to our crushes .. It was like narrating your story to entirely new people… Very soon we had to got to know each other as if we had known each other from years ( Its strange that we get to know people very easily by having a long conversation .. ).. Eventually , I made many friends during the course of the first week …

First month : The first month was pretty cool , not at all hectic .. I had developed a bad habit of sending sms for everything right from calling people for mess even when they stayed only a couple of metres away ( Thanks to Airtel’s 100 free sms daily).. My mobile bill would have surely soared up a lot if not for the free sms .. During the first month , I learnt a lot about the college , about the various clubs , activities etc.. ( I was amazed by the number of clubs MIT had) ..Most of the month went off in eagerly waiting for our laptop ( For those of who dont know , MIT gives a laptop to each and every student ) .. But still we managed to watch a quite a lot of movies ( on a friend’s laptop who was kind enough to let us use ).. I was starting to get a hang of the college also …  I also had the chance to witness a birthday in the first month of the college . We just went out for dinner ( rather snacks ) . BTW , it was my friend AATIF’s birthday .We had our sessionals just after the first month ..

The next few months ( August , September , October ) : Finally , I received my laptop  in the last week of August , LENOVO R61 .. I was the first one to receive it in the entire hostel .. The first privilege of belonging to Computer Science ..I experimented quite a lot with MY FIRST LAPTOP . Then , I had my sessionals , the results were not as expected but were ok overall .. I attended quite a lot club meetings .. Me n my friends went on a trip ( Freshers Day out ) to nearby places organised by Rotract . .. It was fun indeed .. learnt a couple of words (  like bakchodi etc) .. Also , we had a IITian teaching us ( guess what ??) Ethics .. it was a subject which was ideal for easing off tension .. Initially , I liked the teacher and what he preached .. Infact , I went to his house every Saturday along with my friend Ankit to attend a informal type of gathering .. We just chanted Hare Rame Hare Krishna  and then had dinner which was made and served by our seniors … ( I must admit here that the food was very good )..  I even thought many of the people came here just for the food.. I attended a workshop by LUG MANIPAL .. on Mobivision … then eventually made a small application using Python with my classmate Appan . (had great help from seniors like OS and Shubendra bhaiya ( a forum NOKIA Champion)). Then , the second sessionals arrived which passed off without much problem except low marks ..Then the biggest Techfest ( I ever attended ) arrived , TECHTATVA 08 .. I took part in many events but to my utter disappointment not won a single one even though I had qualified for the last round of every competition ..Infact I came third in TECHOPS ( the first and second were both seniors ).. I had taken part in too many competitions ( the maximum one could because of time constraints ) .. There was a time when I had to choose between two competions ( MOBIVISION and AMAZING TECH RACE ) . I had reached the finals of both the competitions but I chose MOBIVISION for I had coded a application for it .. But , finally I lost both .. So , I am eagerly waiting for this year’s Techtatva to WIN .. After that , we had Dhol Baje ( a cultural event by Rotract ) .. I had helped quite a lot by volunteering.. I had also set up my first info desks in the college for the publicity of the club..

More in my next post ..