Homer Knows Best: From School to College...

And I begin..

There used to be a time during our process of growing up during the school days that we used to plan out things in a systematic manner or be on track than what we are now!

We used get everything done in time in any sphere of the schooling itinerary. The assignments, general preparedness for a subject (for the tests) used to be completed well within. Boy, those were the days we used to be disciplined and these values are generally inculcated given by the two most important people in your life. But things change. The TRANSITIONS. Transitions are an integral part of a student life as one crosses various phases say from the lower primary to primary and then to the high school as getting matured at the same time too.You tend to take part in as many socio cultural, curricular extracurricular, sporting activities and end up having a big fat file of certificates piled up at one side of your wardrobe. These all tend to make up a fabulous schooling career fortunately I ended up sharing this experience too like many of my friends have. While on the other hand many do take a chilled out approach right from the word go. We finish school and enter what I call

Then slowly comes the great Indian dream of every parent that his ward doing excellently well at the competitive exams after the 12^th boards and I really believe this is where the biggest transition occurs in a student life(apparently the transition begins when you enter 10^th), you tend to become studious and really lose track of what’s really your interest of focus (mind you this is with regards to an average common student, there are and’ll be exceptions too, students also realize how interesting a C6H6 molecule or d/dx or even a f=ma equation can be and fascinate them and eventually could phase a career out of it). Parenting really is of prime importance here and the way they lead you during this phase is quite worth of a mention. Now I'm gonna speak with respect to an engineering student, being one, not that the scenario is completely different in other fields

11th and 12th : That’s where the toiling day in and day out comes into play. Every student is enrolled into a coaching institute no matter how tiring the schedule could turn out to be these days. Sit helplessly with something going into the head while on most occasions you end up thinking about miscellaneous stuffs, in short you get saturated, if I could put in a hdl format , the behavioral modeling of the character occurs here, if this is your forte no better place but then you can't rule out the other perspective too.(again do remember this is from the average student’s point of view as they form the largest chunk of mass as stressed before.) This has essentially brought about a ‘studial’ revolution in the country. Every student makes a conscious effort at some point of time to study due to the fear of social implication attached to it. Some succeed and some more succeed too. You give the umpteen number of entrances do well in any one of them and there you go.. you are on your way. I couldn’t do justice to my expectations in one of the expected entrances , my father ( now he’s probably the most sensible and optimistic person I’ve known) hinted on going to the epicentre of coaching in India. I resented and I’m doing pretty alright now.

Given the number of colleges you’ve in India nowadays (famous and the not so famous combined), doing a bachelor’s doesn’t seem to that difficult after all. You’ll get into one of them, ain’t to worry. Some may get into the college of their choice while others based on other’s choice and some due to no other choice..i remember going through the various colleges the day before the ‘auctioning’ of seats at a fairly reasonable fixed rate were to be taking place.

Then there comes another phase of transition, and mates this is the transition even I’m and most of you are undergoing currently. You are a wannabe and a gonnabe graduate. The transformation which you go through here is not comparable to anything else ‘you simply change the most’ here. Few end up being day scholars and most of them become a hostelite and that’s where the fun begins. I caught up with a friend of mine a few days back who was one of my favorite childhood buddies and he exclaimed ‘I sure am surprised to see you in the hostel specially after having knowing your mom’ see, (given that my mom still treats me like a 10 year old though I’m almost the double of it) that’s where the changes begin. You get a sense of maturity and the times you’ll start making decisions for yourself. Hostel life is sure fun and if you sure know to be the Mr.popular, it is the best place to be in. I was not ragged in my first year neither I’ve indulged myself in such acts of immorality do in my sophomore year. Hostel is sure turning out to a fun ride.

The Hostel:

I joined my hostel a month after the college started coz my mom was here for a month (parents are currently settled in the northern part of india) . Sure gives you a different experience, you starting off to live, handle, take care of oneself. The first few days are probably the most interesting part of this new phase, the friends you make , the new faces you come in touch with, not to forget in the college too are instrumental in adapting to the new environment. Some get adjusted pretty early, some take a li’l bit of time. The fact that there are lots of there to help you out with the different aspects of concern is a huge advantage. The information sharing happens the fastest here and that’s where it is a big plus.

But then again there are its own set of flaws too. Since there isn’t a guarding force to advice there might be occasional deviation (could happen a bit too often too) from the work you intend to do. You plan alright but the execution becomes a matter of concern (personally feel this all the time). In short Hostel makes you go lazy. The more you stay in a hostel,

a. The better you learn to take care of yourself and

b. The more you tend to deviate away from the tasks which are meant to be important. This actually relates to the initial intro of this article. The 11^th hour more often than not becomes your first hour.

c. But the hostel is fun, it’ll make you do things out of the normal traditional way, helps you to be better adapted to any situation.

d. Movies, serials, big time adda, get togethers, the occasional catch up regarding academic, specially during the test.

e. If a chap is popular here, the b’days are the last day he would wanna be in a hostel. Never would he’ve got a public thrashing the way he’d here that too on a day he’s least expected elsewhere.

f. The occasion hangouts with friends is what I really used to enjoy though it has become a bit seldom nowadays. And must say I’ve acclimatized to the situation well.

g. A big event happen on television, it sure turns out to be more enterprising due to atmosphere created in the TV room (talk about cricket and that place is yours)

So, this transition forms a part of every person’s life and it is very well accepted by all. We’ll have moved onto the next stage and some are in the process. But it sure an experience that no one will miss. I enjoyed this transition hope you must’ve too if not more. But yes, it all depends on you how you utilize the scenario.

Make the best out of it.

Now we all would wanna relive the school days once again wouldn’t we? ;-)