We all have to start somewhere, right?

I was born in a small family clinic in a little town called Rajapalayam in the state of Tamil Nadu in India. Pretty much the only thing my town is known for are the dogs here. And I'm proud about it. It's a beautiful place literally surrounded by mountains and hills drenched with many waterfalls. Amazing place.

Even today I am proud to have been an ASBian. The Asian School is generally considered an excellent and expensive private school. so, I'm very proud of my parents to have sacrificed so much in order to give me the best education possible. I studied in the same school from Kindergarten to 10th grade across 3 campuses. Met loads of people from all over India. 

The decisions I made during my school years are some that I am most proud of. I'm so glad I spent my time enjoying life and playing with my friends instead of being a book worm. I was never a spoilt kid or "bad apple" but was definitely the class clown. I never prioritised marks over other things and I don't regret it. Still so many things I could say about my school life, but won't be able fit all these word in one page. So I will leave it at that. 

Transitioning from an advanced western international school to a tiny local, virtually unknown polytechnic was interesting to say the least. I quickly found out that I was not their target demographic. Why my parents decided to enrol me there is a long story. But in hindsight, a good choice. The first few weeks were gruelling. Imagine the Shawshank Redemption. Well not that much. But still similar and less dramatic. I was very obviously different from everyone else. I couldn't speak their language which was probably the most frustrating part. For me and for the other students since I only spoke in english, which they didn't know. Long story, short, there was tension. Jealousy and envy were also mixed in a bit. 

But all this was expected even before I joined. I learnt Tamil very quickly and started talking to everyone I came across. My Tamil was hilariously broken but I guess was sort of quirky because the others appreciated me trying. I quickly made friends, friends who I still hang out with. Made a good name for myself with the teachers and admins. I had a strong work ethic and was very experienced with electric projects. So that was sort of an advantage. 

All the subjects were objective oriented and practically approachable, which I truly admired. I took advantage of all that I could. Soon I started participating and winning all sorts of competitions. Paper presentations, symposiums, seminars, project competitions and much more. This is were I overcame my stage fright and learnt be a good orator. I totally owe my speaking skills to this phase of my life.

Fast forward to the final year and I was very experienced with all that the college had to offer. I worked on a few projects that would directly benefit the college. Everyone in the college new me. Or at least my name. That's something that I'm truly surprised about. It was straight out of a movie. Literally every single person in the college knew who I was. Every time I go from one place to another, it was very common to hear greetings from at 5-10 people. 

Since, before joining the college, during admissions, I found out that they gave a gold medal award to the best outgoing student. Right at that moment I had decided to make this my goal for the next 3 years. Do everything in my power to win that gold medal. That was my only objective. Everything I did since then was directly to achieve that goal. The Gold Medal for Best Outgoing Student is given to students with a well rounded skillset. So I started doing better in studies, participated in many (way too many) extra and co curricular activities. I even got selected for the college basketball team. We won the divisional championship 2 years in a row. Then I left the team in my final year to concentrate on other things.

In the end, all my efforts paid off. I had won the Gold Medal. It was my greatest achievement of my life at the time. I made my parents proud and reached the goal I had set 3 years earlier. My work here was done. It was time to move on to the next phase of my career.

I discovered this college from a techno-cultural festival that happens here very year called Yugam. Its a truly massive event that's known all over South India. I participated in a few workshops and competitions at Yugam 2018 during my polytechnic years and I absolutely fell in love. The campus was gorgeous and the people were incredibly nice and friendly. I had decided right then there that I needed to join this college after I graduate polytechnic. So that's what I did.

I joined KCT as a lateral entry entry student. So that means I skipped the first year and directly joined the class in second year. I was admittedly kind of weird at first since all the regular students were already friends for the past year and we just joined up in the middle. But I made due and quickly got acquainted with my classmates.