My outlook on life is divided into two parts -the pre-college phase and the post-college phase. College life shapes and hones your outlook on several aspects of life, and boy, was my outlook sculpted well!
In my quest for higher education, I am chasing more than just a degree or a tag of being a ‘professional’. Everybody has different dreams and aspirations about what their college life should be like. However, in the end, we need to accept that there will be good times and bad times, and we must learn from both.
A slab of marble
Probably, a little philosophical for a first-year student, but our education system puts so much pressure on us during our school life that most kids come out as sages – wise and in love with rhetoric. That’s exactly how I was when I first stepped into Manipal Institute of Technology. I was apprehensive yet excited, confident yet unsure, happy yet sad.
In short, I was like a slab of marble, just waiting to craft myself with the tools of experience.
Honing my outlook – a work in progress
To start with, leaving home was a bitter-sweet experience. I was happy and excited to enter a whole new world, but sad that I was leaving my family behind. However, the people in Manipal have turned it into a completely sweet experience now.
It’s been one year since I got here and I can confidently say that I have grown, both as a student and as a person. The process of honing my outlook is well and truly in motion.
I’ve gone from being somebody who was incredibly shy, to being someone who can initiate a conversation with anyone without breaking a sweat. I’ve also learned how to plan and execute numerous weekend plans with my friends. Trust me, executing a plan with a large group of friends takes a lot of work!
So, from befriending the person who sat next to me in class during the first day of college to spending nights stargazing with a bunch of amazing new friends, this shy kid from Kerala has come a long way. I must also add that the frequency of calls from home kept reducing, as they discovered that their child had well and truly settled into a wonderful atmosphere.
I have learned to have more faith in people. I’ve also understood that all of us have our positive and negative points, and I must accept people as they are.Helping people out makes me really happy and I strive to do that here.
New experiences help you mould yourself
I have come to realise thatcollege is the best place to reinvent yourself and to mould yourself into a better person. And new experiences are key to that. I always wondered how it would feel to pick up a new language or to learn to play the guitar.At Manipal I have realised that it is actually possible to learn some amazing new languages and play some amazing instruments!I guess that is what I learned from meeting talented people from across the country!
In the long run, all you can do is hope that you learn as much as you can about life, and that your outlook on life turns from a slab of marble into a masterpiece like Michelangelo’s David.
