Life in an IIT: Along with academics, there are so many things that a student is faced with right from getting engaged in clubs, involvement in student elections, to participating in events and building teamwork, an IIT Madras BTech student says.
- Aniket Singh Patel

Like many small-town students, I got to know about the engineering entrance examination JEE in Class 11. My classmates told me cracking this test would open the door to the best institutes in the country. So I gave my 100 per cent and in 2020, cracked IIT-JEE Advanced.

I secured a seat in Computer Science Engineering at IIT Madras and now I am in my fourth year. Our batch was started online amid the pandemic and I came to the campus in December 2021.

'Contesting the IIT-Madras election made me a confident person,' says BTech student.
I am from a small village in Rewa, Madhya Pradesh where there is no assurance of 24/7 electricity facilities. My family is involved in farming. Due to the lack of basic and proper study facilities in my village, I did my schooling in Bhopal.

JEE Main Journey
After knowing what IITs are, I was sure I had to appear for JEE Advanced. I did not have the funds to join any coaching. I used my smartphone to watch free videos on JEE Main and JEE Advanced preparation. Although I changed the books and strategies for JEE Advanced after clearing JEE Main, I completely relied on free online resources to clear the engineering entrance exam.

I am a CISCE board student. I scored 92 per cent marks in ICSE Class 10 and in Class 12, I scored 95 per cent marks.

Life at IIT Madras
During my early days at IIT Madras, I found it difficult to cope with college life including meeting people, socialising and exchanging ideas. But soon after I attended classes, talked to my classmates and professors, and made friends, I became comfortable and adapted to the new environment.

Life at IIT Madras is awesome. It is completely a life-changing journey for me. Throughout my school life, I was a shy student. Unlike teenagers of my age, I had no idea of superheroes, Avengers series etc. While my classmates used to discuss various topics like films, viral videos etc, I felt left out. This made me an introvert.

However, a few of my friends pestered me to contest the college elections. I resisted it but then later made up my mind to give it a try. I won the elections and the overall experience had an impact on me. I became more vocal and now better express myself.

Next, I became the secretary of my hostel and with that, I had to interact with around 400 people. Talking to them and exchanging ideas after classes, all made me a lot more confident person and groomed my personality.

Now, I am the head of around 10 different committees including the institute executive committee, academic mentorship cell, and institute web operations team. I attend the committee meetings after my classes get over in the afternoon. During my free time, I also work on self-development skills like competitive programming, coding, etc.

Along with academics, there are so many things here that a student gets to experience - clubs, student elections, participating in events and building teamwork. The opportunity IIT Madras has given me is tremendous and I am happy that I belong to such an institute.