7:15 AM! I used to be cosy in bed but nowadays I’m already in this cramped up bus! This would be my constant thought every morning as I tried to hold on to one of the bars to keep myself from falling over the person next to me. I studied in a school, 200 metres away from home and I’d leave exactly 3 minutes to the bell. But now it’s a 45-minute tiresome ride to the college gate plus another 7-minute walk to the class. Phew!

       I was like any other kid, dreaming of getting into college as we constantly heard the echo ‘study this year, then in college, you can relax and boy, did I buy that! This transition from school to college took me through a plethora of experiences.

       I still remember the first day when I walked in and asked someone for the directions to the health centre. He lost me at the first right turn. It was a complete maze! I studied in the same school from kindergarten through class 12 and could probably navigate through it blindfolded. But here, I’m having a hard time figuring out the routes. I think of it as a circle with my class on one end of the diameter and the canteen on the other end - which is very unfortunate. I’ve probably walked more in these few months than in my entire lifetime.

        Throughout my years at school, when a teacher couldn’t come to class we’d have to stay inside class and not utter a word. On the contrary, in college, we have the complete liberty to go out, relax and have fun.

       I’ve never been a fan of animals. When I first visited the campus, I freaked out on seeing the dogs! Now I have to step over dogs as I walk upstairs, as they lie almost camouflaged with the floor. This would definitely add on to the list of ‘The most daring things I’ve ever done’. But another situation I came in completely unprepared for, was the monkey shenanigans. A monkey actively followed my friend and me for quite some time and left us only when we threw off the water bottle in our hand. I stood spellbound as it then gracefully opened the cap and drank the water.

      The idea, that exam questions aren’t just from the notes took us by shock at first but eventually we learnt to tackle them. Using the library was a first and the air-conditioned room has become my favourite place to read.

We came in, with scary images of seniors, who turned out to be the exact opposite. Ends once looked horrible and new beginnings scary, the prospect of shifting gears seemed turbulent, but this transition was smoothed by the seniors who greased out all the hassles. They really went out of the way to make us feel cool and confident. Hope we would turn out the same.

Cheers to all the pleasant memories and to many more thrilling adventures yet to come in this memorable college life!