Have you ever felt happy, nervous, and excited at the same time? Well, that’s what college life holds for all of us – happiness, because you are about to start a new chapter of life; nervousness, because you don’t really know what it will hold; anxiety, because you are leaving so much behind. No one knows where you’ll end up after you graduate.
I was feeling the same as I started my college life, unsure about my decision that’ll soon come to life.
For all I know is, me getting into this course was a roller coaster ride. Family on one hand, was forcing me to go the conventional way, choose a simple subject and get a proper job, and on the other hand, I wanted to do a creative course.
My gut always told me to pursue something in writing. Somehow, even after getting admission in one college, I wasn’t ready to go ahead with it and so I withdrew. I brought all my certificates back and the very same day, I admitted myself in the course I always wanted to study.
After that, I simply went for it. I told myself, “everything is going to be fine.” After two years, I can say that destiny always has the best things waiting for you.
It’s hard to forget my first day at college or for that matter my first year of college. So much has changed since then. There were so many ups and downs, meeting new friends, being a part of different groups, doing group assignments which mostly turned into fights and then teachers hating you for being so quiet. Along with all that, career options opening up and the excitement to try new things allowed me to explore the field that I never imagined I would be a part of. It was for me, an unbelievable experience.
During the first year, I was in a hurry to try everything – to enjoy this new freedom and to explore new places which eventually affected my academics in the first semester. When everybody was scoring marks, I was still at the learning stage (I had to take my time). Later, I realized that I was in a rush, which made me lose the opportunity to get absolutely anything. I even began to have arguments with other students regarding assignments because of the same. I became stuck emotionally.
So, I realized I would have to do something to improve my marks and mental peace. With more focus and concentration, I worked, and started to do better in both academics and handling my emotions, which paid off in the upcoming semesters.
Being from a humanities background, doing practical work was always a task in itself and in this curriculum I had to do all sorts of practical assignments. Things like designing a newspaper, tabloids, magazines, documentaries, short movies and what not. I never knew I was capable of doing all this but I was. Maybe I was too lazy to notice.
During my schooling, I never said ‘no’ to anybody, I always helped my friends with their subjects as well as their personal lives. And as I entered college I thought saying ‘yes’ will help me make new friends and give me pleasure of being useful but then, I realized, the more I agreed, the more I was irritated and then I learnt to decline. I guess it is the most important lesson that I learned during first year, to say no without feeling bad about it.
College was difficult for me as I was a shy student. Hiding behind books, never actually doing anything creative, never interacting with the teachers was how it went for me. But, I knew it was important to come out of that zone and in this course, I did exactly that. I had to carry a notepad everywhere to write details of the places, click pictures on the streets, talk to people and then write articles about it. And eventually, I managed to fit in the brackets of the requirements of this course.
I wasn’t a smart kid to understand practical assignments because of which teachers never really liked me and said all sorts of things to bring down my self-esteem. But there were others who made me see my capabilities and that made me realize there are going to be people who just won’t appreciate my work but others will show the right path and I should focus on the latter. I realized that there would always be two kinds of people and I’d just have to learn to look in the right direction.
The day I started my college, I was excited and with time I began to realize how it is different from school. I learned things that I didn’t know were important. I began to build friendships that I didn’t know were possible. I did things that I never thought I could (I actively worked on all the assignments). I guess that’s the difference a right course and approach can bring in you.
It’s been two years and I can say that I am fairly content with where I stand in my academics and life. It is not important to figure out everything in the initial days. Let the reality sink in. Take a deep breath in the new atmosphere. Simply, just let it all happen.
Featured image provided by author.
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