A place to learn, a chance to grow
There was something about Vellore Institute of Technology that drew me towards it. It’s like I knew beforehand that it was going to be an integral part of my story. I remember feeling this way when I was signing up for their entrance exam, browsing through their website. An odd feeling of when you just know. So when the results were out, I knew I was going to be here. I was still waiting on NEET and other colleges, but I had made up my mind. I didn't want to look anywhere else. This kind of certainty for a college like VIT? You may think I am nuts. I am, in a lot of ways, but hey, it is my story. Just read. And so, on July 4th, 2016, I made the move.
Vellore, for habitat, is not the best. The summers are dreadful. Imagine walking 10,000 steps every day in 40 °C heat. I cannot imagine how I lived that life, and now even 22C is hot for me. Our college’s famous tagline was “A place to learn, a chance to grow”. Academically, I learnt absolutely nothing. My degree is a scam. My Bachelor's Thesis was such a scam, it would put Harshad Mehta to shame. But in life, VIT taught me so much. And it gave me THE BEST college life I could have asked for. However, now when I look back, things were aligned in so many ways.
If it weren’t for this random girl I said hi to at orientation, I would have never found my best friend on the first day of college.
If it weren’t for those 5 minutes of insane courage to go up on a stage and speak, I wouldn’t have found friends who will be the aunts and uncles to my future kids.
If it weren’t for that Tissue Engineering class in the 6th semester, I would have never gotten a Master's degree in Cellular and Tissue Engineering.
I met people whom I never thought I would meet again, only for them to be one of my closest friends in a different part of the world. I also met some people I know I don’t want to meet again. Ehh. People who tell you that they didn't study for the exam, but did and end up increasing the class average so much that at a score of 90/100, you get a B. Chold Cocolate.
That men aren’t worth it, some of them will dim your brightness just so that they can shine brighter. That sometimes, you will find that love can not always be reciprocated, and in those times, always put the feelings of the person whose heart you broke first. If you find yourself being heartbroken, choose yourself. A friendship will survive if it has to. Coming to friendships, you will find them in the most unexpected of places, and sometimes, timing is just everything. It is never about who has known you the longest. While some friends are forever, some friends aren't. And that’s okay, as long as you hold good memories of one another.
Lastly, the voice that is inside of you- listen to it clearly and more often. She always knows the way. Also, just because your mother said that Brahma Muhurtham is the ideal time to study, doesn't mean you should voluntarily sign up for 8 am classes.
VIT was a home I knew I was meant to stay at, and even though it was for just 4 years, I came out of it with a family I built and a version of myself that was needed to get me where I am now. I sang, I danced, I spoke- sometimes all of it on the same stage.
All the world's a stage,
And all men and women are merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being the seven ages.
My favourite Shakespearean dialogue. VIT taught me that the world is my stage, and that this, was just the beginning.
