Her day started at 8 am in the morning, at the sound of her quadmate banging the door to wake her up. She rushed to the 8.15 am class armed with caffeine, and found solace amidst other half-awake zombies. She wondered how she got into this situation. She had told herself she would be on top of things and have her Acads under control. There never seemed to be time. “Don’t think about this now”, she said to herself, “get your CP in!” But somehow her hand was invisible in the sea of so many other, perhaps just like herself at ISB.
As she stood in line for lunch, she reflected on her life – she had been head of her college festival, always been a merit holder but somehow everyone around her seemed to have done greater things! “That’s become a PoP now,” she sighed, promising herself never to crack such a joke outside ISB. She sat down for lunch in the midst of her peers, younger and older, diverse in their thoughts and perspectives. Two club events, a quick nap and then homework and pre-reads for tomorrow – she was sure it was going to be the most productive day ever!
Two hours later she scampered across the corridor trying to make it to the second session, the first one had overshot but she couldn’t leave. Why did she attend the first one anyway, she didn’t really care about this industry nevertheless! ‘FOMO claims another.’ She reached LRC, determined to go prepared for class tomorrow, after a short nap. She jerked awake at a voice asking her to wake up. The LRC was closing. She walked back, tired and groggy but that feeling quickly went away and a sense of doom crept in.
She feared that she would end up choosing all the wrong things, feared that her CGPA will go so low that she will not get placed. She feared missing out on updates and events and feared getting lost and being forgotten.
She bumped into a group of friends in the lawns. On the way back, she got a cup of tea and hummed with her friends a familiar sound track. She looked at the people around. She saw the tired but genuine smiles, saw the need to help out in a p2p, saw the love at the 12 am birthday parties. Her friends made sure that she smiled when she was depressed. She partied. She slowed down to look at a drop of rain and buckled up to finish her work on time. She found that more than the ISB brand, the CGPA and the job, she will value her friends more. In these people she had found a new self and she had found her home.
When I look at these amazing people around me, and the place I am in…somewhere it sinks in…that I’ll be fine.
– Adithya Shetty, Co2017