My first year at college was very
intimidating. Although ours is a ragging free campus, nevertheless some of the
jerks were always trying to let us down one way or the other, and above all -
The 'college politics' was often counterproductive. So, first year was a
bit daunting and I didn’t make much friends, perhaps because they didn't match my
taste. I always look out for people who are passionate about what they do and
work hard towards accomplishing their goals. But except a handful of people,
everyone has a stodgy attitude.
After the first year got over, I went
to orissa for a month long fellowship with a bunch of people from
different parts of India, and I was able to mix with them and by the end of the fellowship we
became very good friends.
Then came my sophomore year. I was
able to take on added responsibilities and made some decisions that, I think,
will affect the rest of my life (in a good way). I went through the lives of some of the great personalities like Phillipe Starck, Zaha Hadid, Laurie Baker, Renzo Piano, Richard Rogers, Sheryl Sandberg, Maneet Ahuja, etc. who have worked really hard and have attained a higher rank in society, really inspired me on how to pursue my career passionately and how to keep
myself motivated all the time, no matter what. Before all this, I was leading a
very hard life, maybe because of the people around me, who didn't allow me much
free time and that life sabotaged almost every careful plan I made.
I mustered the courage to focus on my
career and surprisingly, I was able to work with much more dedication than ever
before. All-nighters gave me happiness and I worked in such a way as if I'm
gonna apply for the one of the world's best architecture schools and I’m going to put up that
work on my portfolio, so that, when the jury sees my work, they enroll me
without giving any second thought. With this thought in mind, I was able to
juggle with many different things at the same time easily. I recall that moment when our design professor asked
me to display my work on the panels at the time of inspection of college. While
I was pinning up my sheets, he asked me if those were print outs from autocad
and I told him that they were hand drafted and not printed. He was impressed and appreciated the work. It feels great when hard work pays off.
The entire year, I did things my way. I
had a fear of travelling alone in public transport and my dad used to drop me
and pick me up from my classes. But things changed and I overcame my fear of
travelling alone. We had a lot of free lectures at the end of the day during
3rd and 4th semester and almost every day I would come back home early in local
buses. Apparently Punjab roadways buses do not have a decent crowd,
but I carried a book along and used to read it which made the commute
interesting.
When you are an architecture student,
you are told to observe things around you, visit construction sites and see how
work is done, etc. At first, I refrained from entering anonymous places but
after my uncle took me along to a few sites and seeing him questioning the labourers
about the materials used and stuff like that, I wondered how informative that
is. No one, not even your professors can give you the knowledge that the people
working on a site can.
FAKE RELATIONSHIPS. It’s a trend to
have a boyfriend/girlfriend these days. 90% of relationships I have seen are nothing but infatuation. That’s a very immature thing in my opinion. And unfortunately,
I'm surrounded by such friends who talk about their so-called lovers ad nauseam
and sometimes I have to scream at them to stop! These people won’t work at the
time when assignments are given and then when deadlines start approaching, they
tend to bug other people around and beg for help. Well, I’m sorry, but that’s
not how architectural study and for that matter any study is done! So, staying away from such people and
avoiding them as much as possible is the only solution. That’s what I do and
perhaps that’s the reason for me not having much friends. In the end, it’s the
quality that matters, not quantity. The hard truth about relationships is that
you are not aware of anything until you are mature enough and meet new and
awesome people out there who tend to leave imprints on your heart forever. But while
still in college and high school, you have no idea about where the person you
are falling in love with would end up! Is he/she is THE ONE you would want to
spend your entire life with? Maybe! May not be! I've heard people saying,
"We love each other. And that's sufficient." But the truth is, that is
sufficient only till you are in your own little 'dreamworld'. Where this dreamworld
ends, reality begins. And that is when people end up having break ups and divorces.
So, be wise and choose your life partner only when the right time arrives. Till
then, focus on your career and other important things in life.
Next thing that matters, is, to get
involved in group activities and play your part well. We were asked to make a
group of 4 and were given group assignments. It’s a very good way to get
each others' viewpoints and ideas while you share yours with them. It is better
than doing the assignment all by yourself. In my case, it not only gave a
platform to discuss things, but it also gave me an opportunity to improve my
leadership skills. Whenever an assignment was given, I was asked to divide the
work amongst 4 of us. It was a challenge in itself because two of them were
hostelers and I and my friend were Day scholars. Sometimes, 2 of them used to
get in a fight for doing their respective parts and then both of them would
call me describing the fight and ask me to resolve it. Sometimes,
it was funny watching “two little kiddos” fight like that, but sometimes it was
so frustrating that I would switch off my phone when I could not take it
anymore.
