So you’ve braved the so-called dangers of 12th and made it to CEG? Wow, that’s such an achievement. I really should commend you-NOT! I don’t want to make this a cheesy ‘oh you’re so awesome to have gotten into the CEG. Now your life is settled, so kudos to you!’ kind of welcome for you freshers. So without further ado, swallow that lump in your throat and change your pants before you read on.
I, for one, really understand the state of the education system in this county. While I would be happy to trash it for pages if given a chance, I’m supposed to welcome you. So let’s assume you had worked really hard for your board exams - attending tuitions, slogging (a.k.a mugged) for months, waking up at 4 in the morning and studying the same old thing you’ve been studying since 11th grade all while scaring your parents so hard that they visited temples while you were writing your board exam. And now you’ve finally made it here.
What next? I’m sure most of you would have great expectations because you’ve been told that college life is one of the best experiences in life and you would make irreplaceable memories here, and for once, I completely agree. Only as long as you know what you’re doing and you agree with yourself. By this, I mean don’t force yourself to study because you need to get good grades (make sure your mom is not reading this with you).
While in the beginning you might be your typical pazham – donning a streak of holy ash across your forehead, tucking in your crisply pressed shirts, averting your eyes as girls cross your path and gaping at the red and grey tags swagger around campus with a girl at their side (I bet you’re thinking something along the lines of “I’m going to be cooler than him and have a girl for each hand”). But seriously, this will last for hardly a year. In fact, I’d be surprised if this farce lasted for over a semester.
Another thing I would like to talk about is the freedom this college offers. You’re no longer bound by the norms of school like school bells ringing, ‘pin-drop’ silence, finger on your lips kind of attitude. Teachers are usually quite liberal with attendance. Aside from that, you also have the anti-ragging vehicle patrolling around for your safety, though sometimes it can serve more purposes than that. You’re also free to talk to whoever you want to as long as you don’t cross the line, a privilege you’ll soon come to appreciate upon seeing other colleges’ code of conduct.
As you might have noticed, it’s a no-brainer that there’s more to the college than the buildings you’ve seen so far. As a third year, I’m yet to claim to have seen a fraction of CEG. And before you say it, no, I’m not a lazy fat guy. For example, did you know there’s a Centre for Building Technology? To be honest, I had chanced upon it while looking for a fancy name to insert here.
There are a lot of activities going on perennially in some corner of the college. You have the big blow ups like Kurukshetra, Techofes, Agni etc., as well as your comparatively smaller department festivals and whatnot. That’s not to say that CEG doesn’t offer academic excellence. You have centres for literally every field you can think of and even to cater to the entrepreneurship side as well. We have huge R&D (research and development) projects going on, some even on a national scale. The college also offers a lot of extra small time courses that enhance your academic profile (No, I’m not giving you the details, find them yourself!). So if you’re more academically inclined, you’re good to go.
Overall, you have everything you can realistically ask for. There is a wide variety of options available to you. It’s up to you on how you want your future to pan out. Go get them details and start working on your life for real, because it’s what you decide to do in these four years and not just your GPA that will eventually result in how your career and interests flesh out.
Explore yourselves, pursue your heart’s interest (I don’t mean your girlfriend here); this college has more than enough resources and freedom for you to do that. There’s a lot more to live, there’s a lot more to love. On that final note, WELCOME!
