It’s been about a month since you came to this odd place in the middle of nowhere, full of grand hopes, dreams, and ideas about your college experience, only to be shaken back to reality by the sweltering heat and absolutely underwhelming mess food. Arriving in Pilani is like stepping into a whole new world, one which you’ve never experienced or even seen before. The first few hours are full of conflicting thoughts crashing into each other. What if I get homesick? What if I don’t meet good people here? Hey, wait! The campus does look pretty. But I’ll miss the white noise of traffic back home (said no one ever).

A few days go by, and all those doubts vanish. So much so that you sometimes forget the mandatory daily phone call with your family. The hustle and bustle of setting up your room, laughing with your wingies, trying to attend every single class, frantically applying to join every club on campus occupies your mind, and as you sink into bed at night, you realise that this strange place is starting to feel like home now.

The semester starts out with the ambition of attending every single class. But you soon realise that it’s easier said than done. You’re tempted to sleep through that one 8 AM tutorial, or maybe give up on that one post-lunch class and take a power nap. But it’s a dangerous game to be playing. All it takes is one missed class to get addicted to the feeling.

Every sports team, club and department starts recruiting just about now, too. There’s music, coding, cubing, writing, frisbee, athletics, handball and anything else you can possibly think of. You apply to everything that appears even remotely interesting. Maybe the first task you spent hours on doesn’t make the cut, or maybe you fumble an interview purely because you got nervous, but at the end of the day, being part of the recruitment process alone teaches you quite a bit. Every time a result doesn’t go your way, you learn not to take it to heart and try again.

While you’re doomscrolling in bed, you open any one of the multitude of WhatsApp groups made for your batch and find posters or registration links for online gaming tournaments, quizzes, competitions, workshops, or even treasure hunts. After a bit of convincing, you and your wingies show up to some of the events. By the end of the evenings, you find yourself craving a cold watermelon juice from ANC to quench your thirst. On one of these evenings, you decide to attend your state cultural association’s orientation event. There you meet people who share your culture and hopefully your vibe, too. 

In the midst of all this, your first tutorial test comes up. You ask yourself how the first few weeks went by so quickly, and panic takes over. A senior you meet offhandedly mentions Studydeck. You open it and find resources for each course compiled by your seniors. From video lectures and notes to past year papers, it has you covered.

You’re tempted to break your resolve of not to use the SU App QR code, which allows you to buy food without spending money in real time. But you rationalise that that’s a conversation you’ll have with your parents once arrears for the next semester are out, so why worry now? Dinners at Cnot and Midtown are also high on your to-do list, after hearing multiple seniors talk about them.

The first month is about exploring this new world you’ve been dropped into. Maybe you don’t have a routine yet, and maybe your sleep schedule is not something your mother would approve of, but now you’re free, and there’s nobody stopping you from chasing down every single inkling you have. 

Finally, sometimes the ride may seem rough. But it is one that you will look back on with a fondness that almost hurts. You’ve just now started out on the path of living on your own terms, so allow yourself to make mistakes. Bite off more than you can chew, try to build Rome in a day, and walk on thin ice, but please, don’t poke the bear with a stick—that’s just a bad idea.