FIRST YEAR: THE BEGINNING

 FIRST YEAR: THE BEGINNING

Hello dear readers. Welcome back to my Life Blog. I have an amazing news to share with everyone. Just a few days ago I gave my final exam of second semester and successfully completed my first year of computer engineering. And as the ritual goes, I just had to jot down my experience and share it with the internet.

In case there are any ex-engineering students who are curious to know which subjects do they teach in 2025 –

First semester – Mechanics, BEEE, Applied Physics, Applied Chemistry, Applied Mathematics, Professional Communications and Ethics, C Programming and Universal Human Values

Second Semester - Applied Physics, Applied Chemistry, Applied Mathematics, Engineering Graphics (a.k.a. Engineering drawing), Data Structure (in C programming), Indian Knowledge System, Python programming, Social Sciences & Community Service

And in case you may be wondering, from second semester onwards each branch had their own course. For COMPS, it was Data Structure.

 

Now on to my regular audience.  

 

First year engineering went by in a flash. For others. Not for me. For me, it dragged on and never seemed to end. Even though our course started in September ’24 and ended in May ’25 which, in all fairness, is not even an entire year! And the reason behind this was I never really stepped out of my college gates and enjoyed life. I treated this the same as high school. I had near 100% attendance, I gave all the assignments on time, I only opened my textbooks to prepare for my exams and that’s all. I didn’t really do anything else. And this was a serious learning curve for me. If my next 3 years are to go by as they went by now, I will have failed as an engineering student! There is a whole lot more to engineering than just semester exams and vivas. Hopefully from now on I can improve and be better.

Here's a few things I learnt from my 8 month journey

And this will contain different types of advice for different types of people. Some of it may be applicable to you, some of it may not be. But I can assure you that you will be able to relate to all of it.  –

1) We Scare Because We Care

This is not an angry rant by a frustrated college student. This is not an appreciation post for Monsters Inc. This is also not a gist of my personal experiences. No. Rather, this is a funny gimmick that has been normalized to such an extent that now, countering this paints a bad picture of you. But what exactly am I talking about?

Almost every single person I met or took advice from, was obsessed with trying to make me understand how difficult things would be for me in the first year. I kept hearing stuff such as “It is even more difficult for you guys than it was for us”, “it won’t be easy to get a job”, “this is a very tough course”, etc. And listening to all of these anecdotes was irritating. Instead of trying to scare me, why can’t people reassure me and be kind? Some of them went even as far as to chuckle and take this predicament as a joke. It is a sincere request to everyone to stop trying to scare us. It’s not funny, you’re not being helpful. Instead of just explaining everything about the problem, show us the solution. Guide us, reassure us.

In fact, let me make a statement. “First year is manageable if and only if you keep progressing a little every day.” Now if any of my college friends are reading this, they might be loading up their shotgun and getting ready for some hunting. But hear me out. This statement is connected to the second point

2) Procrastination is the thief of marks

I think every engineer in India has been automatically infected with a disease which causes them to open the textbook and read it one day before the exam. It’s not cool, it’s called procrastination, and it puts you in a dangerous situation. It is cool if you can manage to knock the exam out of the park after pulling this stunt, but because of that you develop a notion that engineering is pretty tough and then you go around and scare juniors like us into thinking the same way. I am not asking you to change your habit. Because if you can develop this ability to understand a complex subject a day before the exam and score good marks, then it obviously is a skill that will help you in the long run. But all I am asking is, don’t infect others with this disease. I sincerely mean this, from the bottom of my heart – being at the top of your class in the first year is actually VERY simple if you are serious about it from day one. And my dear college friends, if you are reading this too, lower your shotguns because deep down you know you agree with me. Had we opened G.V. Kumbhojkar and Techknowledge from the start and spent at least 3-4 hours on it, none of us would be a pathetic mess on the group chat during exam time.

3) Develop skills apart from frontend

This was a constant occurrence that I see everywhere I go. People who want to learn programming start with frontend, reach React.js and give up. When I say ‘people’ I mean me. Frontend is not coding. And I am tired of pretending that it is. There are more interesting things to do apart from creating a website. Start exploring. Keep up with the news.

4) Make extensive use of AI

I don’t think a lot of people have realized just how powerful and user-friendly AI is. Any subject in this entire world, can be explained entirely by AI. I have literally, and I mean it, understood concepts better from AI rather than from my own notes. There are innumerable tools, innumerable Instagram posts giving advice on correct prompts, and innumerable sources to refer from. In today’s world writing an assignment has never been easier. So instead of copying one another’s assignments, understand it on your own by sending it as an input to an LLM.

5) Live a little

You are an adult when you enter engineering college. At least most of you are. Some of you may even have a driver's license. Make friends and go out with them. Explore new places, new interests and talk to people freely. I could never do it, but going forward, I will. It may be shocking for you to hear but in my entire first year I never once bought anything from my college canteen. Nor did I ever buy anything from the food stalls outside. All I did was go straight back home. So yes, live a little.

6) Stop taking advice on a regular basis

There will be a hundred different people giving you a hundred different kinds of advice. If you try to keep a track of each and every single thing, then you’ll get mighty confused. Some things work for some individuals while some things don’t. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

Of course, it is important to have a few close mentors in your life who guide you all the way. I did too. And all you have to do is stick with them. Make your own path, do your own research. But that also doesn’t mean that you stop networking. Read the next point to understand what I mean.

7) Networking is imperative

You may not be a very intelligent individual, but if you have a very strong network, you can get places in life you never thought you would.

Network with everyone. Your class friends, people from other divisions, your seniors, your teachers, the college staff, even the security guard. Networking is such an underrated and powerful skill that I cannot stress this enough. You talk to any professional who works in the corporate world, and they are bound to agree with what I am saying.

 

8) Keep your enemies close but your friends even closer

No man is an island. When I attended the first lecture in college as a fresher, I felt awkward. Out of place. I did not know anyone. But I knew that as time went on, the people who surrounded me every day would become an integral part of my life.

I made some very good friends. And we had some very interesting times. One may not notice this immediately but with time, groups are formed within the college, and everyone will be a part of some group. I found mine and I am happy to say that they are the best.

 

 

So folks, that was it. I shared everything that I thought was necessary. I hope you had