A Trip down the memory lane |College Memories| Part 1 - By Sonal Jain

The college has given me my fondest memories. These are memories reminding me of happy moments and instances of progress I made in life as a person. I have always considered college the foundation or the stepping stone of the real world. College can either make you or break you based on how you choose to utilize the time and transform yourself.

Today, I share the journey of exploring new things in life and how college helped me learn and unlearn things. It is a trip down memory lane, so hold on tight. 

The big bubble burst- Expectation v/s reality 

The colleges in movies and tv shows give you butterflies in the stomach. I am sure it has happened with each one of us until the day arrives when we step into a college. A place where you are a stranger until you try to make friends, and nervousness kicks in when someone tries to make a conversation. Nothing feels welcoming until there is a fresher’s party. Am I right?

Hello Delhi University, is that you?

Well, it is time to get honest with you about my first impression of my college. I shifted to Noida in 2014, did my last two years of schooling, and like every Delhi or Delhi NCR kid, I also wanted to go to the Delhi University. I did not know anything about Delhi university and the colleges it had. After my 12th exams, I was more excited to go to my Nani’s house than college, so research took a back seat. 

Someone during school days warned me, to take any immediate seat I get when the cut-off lists are out because later you may change your college. I did not know the meaning of it, but I did shake my head.

The board results were out, the cut-off lists came out in the open, and I arrived from Karnataka, and straight reached Deshbandhu college, Kalkaji. The college looked very old and boring. Someone said it is here since 1952. 

I saw my dreams drowning but took my admission in the first list and flew back to Karnataka. In all this, I completely forget about the change of college provision, and the rest is history.

After the first day at college, I did not think of changing the college ever again. Not because I lost the opportunity, but the mere thought of being so privileged to attend a college changed my respect for college and not the building. 

After I made a few friends and they got to know about my results, the only thing I heard was- ‘Why did you not change the college? You could have done that with ease. Now, what will you do here?   

That is why I promised myself, to make the best use of the opportunity and make everyone believe that college is not about the building, it is about how you utilize the premises, associations, knowledge to groom yourself.  

In search of my interests- 

One perception always in mind- College is the place that will help me understand people, grab opportunities, build confidence because everyone is a plain stranger here, and to be are able to make things work in such an environment, looked challenging. 

My approach to this was very simple. I would go around college looking for an opportunity to learn. Every corner had something new which I had not seen before. People were debating, dance crew practicing, music society in its melody,  people only concentrating on food, student political groups screaming their heart out, some studios kids, and a bunch of freshers like me confused.

On the very first day after learning about academics, favorite teachers, and all good food outlets around college, I learned about college societies. Something that I have been keen on knowing ever since I have dreamt of being in a college. The search began, from debating society to music society, I gave auditions for all, but I realized I am not good enough of these in terms of skills and confidence.

Finally, I found my area of interest- Deshbandhu Express.

Very recently, I developed an interest in photography, and I got to know there is a college media portal and we could register ourselves as photojournalists, it felt right. Soon I gave my interview to Deshbandhu Express, got selected, and learned how everything works. I remember being the only girl with a camera in the entire college, so it caught a lot of attention. 

All this happened within two months of entering the college. I felt nervous, the task of clicking pictures was not difficult but the attention confused me. The first event I covered was the Oath Ceremony of the college student union, where almost the entire college came to witness. I got anxious because I was alone with no known person around me clicking pictures of the event. 

Deshbandhu Express, Member and photojournalist first, President next and lastly a Mentor. 3 glorious years!

It was this how my entire extracurricular activity days have been. I had a lot of friends, but they were least interested in participating in college activities. So, I was all alone trying to figure things out. Initially, it bothered me, but when people recognized me for being active in various things, slowly the fear went, and confidence started to build.

Sonal Jain, Ms. Fresher 2016-Am I dreaming?

All of us eager are to start college always dream about being the Ms freshers. Like every other girl, I also dreamt but, do you what brought me down? My obesity, the insecurity of not looking a certain way, the worry of not wearing a good dress felt like a problem. I went shopping with mom, bought a dress for myself for the first time that looked good, and tried to build confidence for pulling the look well. 

The next day when I went to college, people complimented me. That felt very elating, and I put all my fears backseat and went ahead. I said to myself, forget about winning the title, focus on how you have overcome a fear of your life today. Then a few rounds of competitions were held for Ms and Mr freshers. I was not an introvert, but I lacked confidence. I participated in the competitions without fearing what people might think about this move. We had a fashion walk, a talent round, and then we danced all around until the time for the results came in. 

Won it 

I sang a song for my talent round that was loved by many. While the results were announcing, I felt two emotions. My heart was pumping with hope, but it was also sinking because of my insecurity. 

Then a voice said- Ms freshers 2016 is Sonal Jain.  

Dressed up for freshers

That day my perceptions, insecurities, awkwardness, and unnecessary worries were chucked into the dustbin. I felt like crying because I hurt myself by degrading myself. It has been a life-changing episode of my life because I learned the biggest lesson of self-confidence, respect, and love.

The storm in the calm-Department elections 

I would attend classes and then spend time with friends on a tea-stall or with team members of the society. All of a sudden, the Department elections announcement took place. I heard my cousin speaking about how he was the cultural head and how fun the journey was. When people around me encouraged me, I decided to contest for it. 

My department of political science was divided based on English and Hindi language.  We knew the Hindi section has better unity and more in number. While I was trying to understand a few things, another batchmate wanted to contest for the same position as me.  That means the vote gets divided. 

It felt like typical students of political science. In every other department,  taking responsibility was very casual. In our department, we fought for it. So, everyone waited for our department elections every year. 

Does this look fascinating? The same happened. Votes got divided, we both lost, and the person from the Hindi section took away the position. It was disheartening for me. The first time I saw defeat, I realized the importance of unity. 

My Batch 

Enactus- Came in as breathe of fresh air.

In November, I auditioned for Enactus society. It is a social-entrepreneurship association that works for the underprivileged section of society by helping them build a business for survival. The interview felt difficult because they threw questions over questions, which made me anxious with their intelligence.  

But then came a calm when one of the seniors in the panel tried to help me by comforting me. He told me to take my time and then answer, you are doing good. It was a different experience altogether because it taught me the importance of comforting someone in a stressful situation just by the assurance that it will all be okay.  

Dream Team: Enactus

Enactus gave me a ground reality experience. I worked on a project designed for Human trafficking survivors. I feel that qualities like responsibility, leadership, owning things, and more have developed in me because of Enactus.

All the above experiences conclude that I have never left anything behind to regret later. From societies to elections, to freshers to responsibilities, to spending time on a tea stall after every class, everything became an experience. 

Do you remember what I said above? People asked me why I did not change college to making years the most memorable years of my life. There is a lot more to college life experience, the happiest and unimaginable ending, which I shall share in part 2 of this blog. The next part will have bigger and better things, so I hope the eagerness to read will stay.

See you all in part 2 of this blog.

Thank you for reading!