Exciting, confusing, overwhelming, depressing, stressful, grateful… are some of the few words I would use to describe the year 2019. Woah! Wasn’t it truly a roller coaster ride!

This year started off for me with university entrance. Spoilt as the youngest one in the family and protected like a 10-year-old child, I was finally released to the oh so called ‘real world’. At the very beginning I found myself being very eager to experience everything which I thought a 21-year-old should experience, of course keeping in mind all the constrictions of my parents. Getting involved in extracurricular activities and making a bunch of friends along the way and adapting to self-learning, time flew by.

Thinking back, there were many nights which I had to stay up quite late with a sprained leg or a bruised toe trying to finish up a lab report which was due the following day or creating slides for a presentation due. Some days I found it so stressful to manage my work but as time passed by, I adapted to the said lifestyle to an extent that I did not know what to do when I had free time.

One of the best memories I have of my first year at university was the time period of which we had our Freshers’ Tournament. It was a series of moments of all my batchmates; the freshers, coming together as a team or I would rather call it a family, to drive everyone towards victory. The energy of the crowds never faded throughout the series, and everyone was in high spirits cheering for their own faculty and it was so exciting including the much more exciting tales behind the scenes. Without my realization, I made some genuine bonds with people who were strangers to me a few months ago.

I experienced life in a way I would have never expected and with that a hint of maturity struck me and I made my own frame of my limitations broadening my freedom which may have seemed stubborn or too liberal to my parents, but I am sure you can relate to me.

During the year, everyone including myself joined clubs and societies where we made a family with people having similar passions and goals. For me, it was another highlight of the year. Organizing events, serving the community, interacting with international students, travelling outstation for community-based projects and by simply being around them I was empowered and inspired by the positive energy that I chose to maintain around me.

Even in the case of academics there are so many fun memories that I could recall; group studies turned into movie days, group projects turned into gossip and stalking, and group discussions turned into singing. But at the end of the day we had each other’s back to get through the exams.

As remarkable were the highs, the lows were equally interesting, in the sense of learning from our own mistakes. At certain instances, I was utterly disappointed or let down as to how people could change so easily, eventually revealing their true selves. At the same time, my circle got lesser by quantity but richer in quality which made me more grateful for the ones left.

Through and through, the year 2019 was definitely not a bore; it was a mixture of so many emotions when I think back. Most importantly what I realized about university is that, it is a place different from what we believe it to be as school students. Even considering some of the elite academics, we see them as individuals who are more relaxed and somewhat fun which is not at all similar to how we have expected them to be like.

Stepping into the new year molded by the lessons taught by the ‘real world’, hopefully, I will be more cautious and flexible enough as to what might come in my way and try to live in the moment shared and surrounded by my loved ones.

This time I am even more eager to explore life in the year 2020!

Photo Credits: FOS Media