As a freshman at an all-girls college I never expected to have the greatest college experience. I used to be sort of popular in school : I excelled in academia, was on the handball team, deputy head girl (the works). However, Fergusson where I spent the last two years of my high school did not leave a good impression on me. I had limited interaction with only a few friends, and things were not great at home or school. Naturally, my expectations from myself and from Cummins College of Engineering for Women were low.
But that all changed in a short span of time.
I met my best friend in college. I had a close-knit group of friends. Academic excellence was a given, and social status came along with it. Handball was not that glamorous at Cummins, but we scrounged up a team and played for two years! The principal invited me and three other students at the Taj to meet the CEO of Cummins Inc. It was an honor to represent the college, especially after they had threatened to suspend me due to a very low (27%) attendance in my third year. Well, it all turned out fine at the end.
The final year of college was the best. My classmates were like family, I tutored many people before exams, I participated in small projects involving the chaos theory and the Mozart effect. We won 12th place out of 500 colleges participating nationally at the IITB Greenfest! And it all came to a beautiful conclusion at the college fest : Gandhaar. The first three years Gandhaar had been a distraction, I had dressed up for a few days but never really got involved in the merriment. The last year I was determined to leave a with a blast.
Spearheading the fashion show, I spent hours designing and coordinating outfits. I even sewed a few! Our engineering theme was a hit and the entire class got on board to help us. I won the spelling bee, recited a shloka as an introduction for the trio dance, recited a poem of my own creation at the department show. But, the fashion show took the cake. My GRE was scheduled for the day after the show in a different city. I organized and performed at the show, took a car out to Mumbai, woke up early for my test, got a 327 (to boast a little) and was back the next day for the department show.
Of course, we won! We won the Fashion show, we won the Best Class award! B.E Instru ko Salaami denge. Dhishkyav! Dhishkyav! Dhishkyav! What a night!
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I am so grateful for my college days. They taught me a lot, and truly formed the foundation of who I am as a woman today. I did have the greatest college experience.
