Standing at the Shatabdi gate, I gazed at the Convocation Hall of IITR. It looked large and beautiful, waiting for the next batch of freshers to rush in for the registrations, like it had been for the last 166 years .

It was my first day here and I had been allotted Civil Engineering. Although I had lived away from my parents for almost two years while preparing for JEE, my fear of saying goodbye to my mom was brand new. I was anxious (and at the same time, excited) about the new place, the new people and the new life.

Like any other guy in first year, I had to live in Rajendra Bhawan for a year. So my mom helped me clean and set up my room there. Life at IITR thus began. The first few days passed quickly while standing in long lines—long lines to complete registration, long lines to attend orientation sessions, long lines to mark hostel attendance, long lines to get mess food. But it all ended very soon when the orientation program ended and most of the students realized the deliciousness of the mess food.

I have been a productivity geek since The Big Bang. So, I was always obsessed with planning and keeping a tight control over my time. To others, I was a very special ghissu breed homo sapien who abstained from chapos (IITR lingo for treats), avoided hanging out with people or doing anything other than what would fetch me good marks. I would spend most of my time thinking about studying (and ironically, not actually studying). Academics were a nightmare—not because I was performing poorly but because I expected too much out of myself. The very feeling of being just another guy in your class is frightening, especially after you have enjoyed nearly a month of fame in your hometown for making it to an IIT.

But my perspective of making the best use of my time changed significantly when I joined Geek Gazette, the technical magazine of IIT Roorkee, as a designer. I was now surrounded by experienced, intellectual and, most importantly, helpful seniors all around who took my development as their personal responsibility. I explored graphic designing, in which I learnt using photoshop, got a brief idea of UX designing and thus started diverting more time into designing than academics. And not only skills, my behaviour changed quite a lot. I started attending more chapos, learnt using facebook for productive discussions, became more open with people around and made many new friends outside Geek Gazette. The first semester thus passed away. And by the way, I did NOT make it to a branch change.

With the beginning of second semester, I took a new year resolution to improve my health. I charted out a health plan, made a schedule, moved into the gym, worked out, and, within a week, left it. The reason: IMG recruitment had started. IMG was considered one of the most elite student groups on the campus. The people here were famous for being some of the most productive people on the campus. No wonder I wanted to join IMG design now. Hence I prepared for it, studied color theory, seeked advice from various seniors at GG and submitted my designs for assessment at IMG. Finally, I was selected :)

This was where my productivity skills found a new dimension. I saw people managing academics as well as the intense workload of IMG (which was no less than running an actual startup of your own). I too had to go through this load, sometimes with excitement, sometimes with excruciation, but never with boredom. I learnt web development and design.

The next two years went with me juggling various responsibilities of Geek Gazette, IMG and academics. At Geek Gazette, I helped designing magazines, learnt Adobe Illustrator and managed juniors. At IMG, I learnt front end development and UI/UX design, redesigned an app, and mentored various juniors. Academically, I struggled to pay attention as I had started envisioning a career in UI/UX design and wanted to devote more time to it. Other than this, I went out for yearly trips with both IMG and Geek Gazette and spent most of my time in these two groups. Outside IITR, I did two internships, one in Civil Engineering at the end of 2nd year (this was where I decided not to pursue Civil engineering further), and the other as a UI/UX designer at HackerEarth after 3rd year.

Thus, clearing five mid-term and five end-term exams, launching an app at IMG, managing the design team of Geek Gazette, completing two internships, bidding farewell to many beloved seniors, joining gym again and leaving out yet again, I entered my fourth year.

This was the time when I realized how little of the treasured life in campus I was left with. I wanted to make the most of it and at the same time, secure a decent job in design. I started reading, almost everyday. I joined swimming. I started hanging out more with friends. I made more plans. Academics were almost out of consideration now. I just wanted to pass with the bare minimum (that doesn’t mean you should too. My GPA was good enough to let me take a free fall).

Then I saw everyone getting serious for placement preparations. On the one hand, I was confident about my lack of preparation for any Civil engineering company. On the other, I was equally confident about making it to almost any design role that came up. However, as time went by, not a single company opened up a role for UX design in IITR placements. I was stressed. Fortunately, I had had a nice experience working with HackerEarth during my summer internship. So, I applied at HackerEarth. This time, I was offered a December internship. It was probably needed to assess my aptness for the role there. And this time, I was given a harder project, tighter deadlines, and a real team of product manager and developers to work with. I worked hard, launched a product and was thus offered a full time role at HackerEarth. The last semester started and I was prepared to cherish my last days in IITR free of any worldly stress. And so I did. I spent a lot of time with the hard earned friends, juniors, and most importantly, talking to the security and service staff of IITR (their contribution to making our life at IITR comfortable can never be overstated). Farewell season began soon and I ended up receiving unexpected gifts and lots of love from the juniors. Thus summing everything up, the life at IITR had come to an end.

Throughout this journey, I learnt many lessons which will guide me during my life ahead.

Explore as much as you can. You’ll never be this much forgivable in life ever.
Do what everyone around you is doing only if everyone around you has the same long term goals in life as you (which rarely happens).
Read more, read often.
Be generous to the people around you. You’ll never realize how much it pays off.

While leaving, I turned my head towards the Convocation hall. It was still the same—large and beautiful, waiting for the next batch of freshers to rush in for the registrations.