What My Seniors Should’ve Told Me

-Namrata Yadav, 4th Year, EE

 

When I was in my first year, 4th year looked so far away. The oft-repeated phrase was “abhi to 4 saal baaki hai“. And now, as our batch gets ready to plunge headfirst into our final year, sometimes I wish I could go back and set some things right. Things my seniors should have told me.

1. The 70% rule: You might encounter people who tell you that marks aren’t important. You have enough cause to file an FIR against them right there and then. You might think “Of course, this is India, people with good marks are worshiped.” Well you’ll be surprised but good marks are a pre-requisite for global entrance exams like GRE and GMAT too. The ideal percentage varies from stream to stream but try to get 70% in any stream.

2. The Certificate: You must have met seniors who lure you into societies , courtesy “The Certificate”. This piece of paper is supposed to be your first step to future greatness, a catapult which will lift you away from your mediocre friends and throw you right into the loving arms of a placement company. Okay, enough day dreaming for today. A certificate without experience is just what it is – a piece of paper. Most companies don’t even look at your certificates but they do ask what you did for the society. So try to gain experience and not certification.

3. Extra-curricular’s: This my seniors did tell me about
, but I am happy I didn’t take their exact advice. You don’t want to be a person who is a member of every society and every club. Try everything, but not from the same category. Pick a technical society, the one which actually helps you and not the one everyone else is joining. You have lots of options in this category so chose wisely. Join a cultural society according to your hobby and a sports team if you’re into sports.

4. Projects and Internships: A lot of seniors normally tell you to chill out and enjoy your vacations unless it is compulsory (as in your 3rd year), that there’s no use of working with a Prof. on a project because he will only make you do menial stuff and take all the credit for himself. Well, internships help you a lot; they familiarize you with your branch. Most PSUs don’t take internships seriously but it is upon you to bug them till they tell you something useful. Except during lunch time. There is nothing more sacred at government offices than the lunch hour, mostly extended to two hours as they ignore the world half an hour before and after lunch. Personally, I didn’t enjoy any of my electrical internships but thanks to them, I now know more about different equipment in place of my previous knowledge of them only in terms of emf and torque equations. As for projects, they really do help you if you’re aiming for a technical job profile.

5. Enjoy: Enjoy your 1st and 2nd years to the fullest because from 3rd year onward, you’ll get busy planning for the future. Don’t be prejudiced about the people you meet and try to get to know your classmates. Make new friends and try to keep the old ones.

So here’s a heads up for the most important things in college. You might follow these and yet come out with a different list in your 4th year. But you can’t say a senior didn’t tell you!