Exploring the First Year of Engineering: Welcome to NIT Trichy!

So you have just come out of school, gave loads of tests, and finally managed to get into one of the best institute in the country to pursue your engineering. In front are what could be the four most productive years of your life. Engineering was never about the course, its a lifestyle and a way of thinking that we develop through the years. There could be 101 reasons why you are pursuing engineering and if you somehow happened to get into Electronics and Communication Engineering, you are at the right place. We have got you covered!

A Humble Beginning:

1st year of college is probably the time when you’ll learn all the social media slang and catch up with the rest of the world. Basically, we have a few types of people who emerge at this point;

A. The one who continues to adopt the JEE life style, or at least study regularly. (This post has suggestions for you guys in particular. Explore other aspects of life more as well)

B. The one who is exploring social media and probably enthusiastic about writing on Quora.(Keep it up!)

C. The silent introverts who don’t really fit to any of this and just observe the happenings around. (You guys will come out of your shell someday! Remember what others think is their headache. There is nothing to be shy of.)

D. The College Devotees who are super hyped about Fests and Clubs. Eager to be a part of the elite ones. (Some may be worth it, some may not. But clubs aren’t totally about the activities, it’s the people you associate with)

Either way, I believe, personality development and honing of your communication skills must be given utmost priority in your first year. Other soft skills are equally important and you may not find enough time later to overcome these short-comings, if you have any.

As for the academics, the first year is just a bridge to your course, extending most of what you learnt till 12th grade and it’s a common syllabus. Here are a few tips;

1. First year is essentially your GPA powerhouse. Don’t lose track of it. Easy to score, get high in first year, and it can very well compensate for the lower grades in the coming years (We are talking about ECE here!)
2. Humanities and English can be a lot of fun! Make the best of it.
3. The usual physics, chemistry, and math stuff is there. Sometimes your JEE notes may even come handy. So don’t totally ditch them after school.
4. And then there is this course called Engineering Graphics. I’ll not break the ice, you guys will have to experience it first hand.

Apart from the academics, go out and explore everything that is happening around at college! (Benches excluded!)

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By the end of first year, if you rewind back, different people realize different things;

A. You literally haven’t done anything useful over the last one year.

B. You hardly remember anything you studied so far.

C. You continue to spend a lot of time studying. (You probably will end up being one of the toppers)

D. You realize Engineering isn’t what you expected it is.

E. English is now your favorite subject.

End your first year on a high note!

There may be many other experiences and types of people, but broadly speaking, First year is the ideal time to explore the world of science, technology, and beyond in your own terms. If you had just done that, feel secure that you are on the right track. Don’t waste your time pondering about it even if you have wasted all your time. It’s worth the break.

My take on Engineering;

Engineering is not about knowledge or how much you learnt. It was never about Electronics or Computer Science or any other branch. It is a way of thinking. Nobody can teach you that, you’ll eventually learn it through the experiences you face. Now is the high time to stop expecting to learn some useful or be dependent completely on the professors. To tell it plain and clear, you are on your own.

Back in 2015, when I first joined college, Android Kitkat was the most widely used Operating system. Nobody knew about Amazon Alexa. Sophia, the robot was just then activated and nobody knew of its existence either. Trump was not the president of US. Self driving cars wasn’t even a main stream topic of discussion.

Things around us change at a rate faster than ever. What you read in your curriculum, you’ll probably never use in your life, at least most of it. Technology gets old within days. What’s important is not how much you learnt or how much you know, but your ability to learn and grasp new things.

As for the subjects, Physics and Mathematics are the fundamentals of Circuital Engineering. I think those two subjects can be considered the biggest takeaways from first year. Engineering changes with time, but the science behind it remains the same. Only our application of it varies.

One thing you should realize now is how huge this world is. There are 7+ billion people out there, and the happenings across, it more than what you can imagine. Explore the maximum you can of how the world works. What are people elsewhere doing? What kind of research are other universities doing? What are your dream companies working on right now? Who do you think will win the next Nobel prize in your field of interest? And never limit yourself, constrained by a small peer group or come to conclusions based on your experience limited to your surroundings.

“The most greatest opportunity lies at the least suspecting place, for that’s what makes it great”

To conclude with, I would like to summarize a bit of what NIT Trichy has to offer you;

1. The Clubs: Make the best use of them! Have a hobby? Name it, you’ll have a club dedicated to the same. If there isn’t, you can start one yourself!
2. The Octagon: The famous computer center at college, It’s a place, that you’ll find quite handy. The internet is super fast. Make the best use of it.
3. The Library: It has all the books you need for your academic courses and much more. These days hardly anyone visits the library but would recommend you to check it out once in a while. The ambiance and atmosphere is nostalgic and beautiful! Old is gold, after all.
4. Above all, its the people you meet here from all the corners of the country. Network well with your peer group!

and always remember, It’s never too early to learn something.

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