03/09/2018
Dear juniors,
They say, change is the only constant. As you leave behind your hometown, the known faces, the known blackboards and desks and plunge into the unknown, I'm sure you must be agreeing with this more than ever. Every school-goer, however, gets starry-eyed when they think of college. They can't wait to break out of the monotonous school life, where one's expected to attend classes diligently, get good grades AND prepare for the monster called the competitive examinations. College promises to be way more colourful. You can't wait for a life where every day is a celebration, where you don't really need to study and engineers are sure to get a high-package job at the end of four years.
As I enter college and see a swarm of new faces nowadays, I can't help but feel a sort of motherly affection for each one of you. It's just a year ago that I was on the other side - giving intros to random strangers, making new friends, enrolling into every college club that existed. I sang in my tuneless voice on the fresher's day, shouted my lungs out in the audience during Anjan Dutt on stage for sanskriti, celebrated Bhasha Dibosh on campus, had anxiety attacks before the semester results - and made the best out of the days I had. The magical place called Jadavpur University embraced me with its vibrance.
However, all that glitters is not gold. To be really honest, if Jadavpur provides you with a thousand ways to excel in life, it can give you a million others to go wrong. But this is a college that forces you to think, to question, to have a voice and not shy away from protesting against what's wrong.
It's CIIPPUS time in saltlake campus, and trust me when I say this - however hard you try, you'll never get back these days. So, enjoy to the fullest. Get involved, participate and do things you've never done before. Don't kill me, but I really cannot stop myself from giving some advice. One, never change yourself to fit into groups. And two (I'm stealing this one from my father), every individual should have in them, a judicious mixture of the good and the bad.
That's all, folks! Get ready for the best days of your life!
Love,
Aryama