Not even one and a half months into my dream college, I was sitting in my room when my phone started buzzing. Ignoring it as regular spamming in the WhatsApp group, I continued doing my work. But when the buzzing continued for an approximately half hour, I picked up my phone to find that something serious had happened. One of my batch-mates had withdrawn her admission from college succumbing to the pressure of these initial months.
Getting into a converted b-school is a dream for which around 5 lac aspirants slough hard each year. The lucky few who get through start considering themselves to be superior to many others. But a few months into the course they realize that surviving a b-school is not that simple. One has to manage the classes, SIP preparations, committees selection, placement talks, quizzes, assignments, projects and not to miss the parties simultaneously. The sleepless nights and missed meals can surely take a toll not only on the physical but also the mental health of students (I myself wanted to flee the place after a month).
But a few things that can make one’s life during the initial days at a b-school somewhat easy and enjoyable include -
- Prioritize your work – Even if you have entered the top b-schools doesn’t mean that you are some demigod who can do everything at the same time. You will have so much going on in college that it is highly likely that you will lose track of most of the things. Therefore it is really important to prioritize what you want to fulfil and try to complete as many things as possible from your priority list.
- Don’t go in with a lot of expectations – Joining a b-school comes with a lot of expectations from yourself, from placements, from professors and from the college as a whole. But if you go in with a lot of expectations you are likely to get disappointed after failed attempts at things (Believe me there will be many). So it is important to go in with an attitude of giving your best and learning from whatever comes your way.
- Pay attention in class – Most of you will not like this suggestion but it is true that paying attention to what is being taught in class will take you a long way in life. You will have so much going on apart from studies that there will be hardly any time left to read the curriculum books. Therefore if you gather as much information as possible from the professors (some of them are really brilliant), you can reduce your efforts to a great extent.
- Have a very strong support system – I cannot emphasize of this point enough but one cannot survive b-school without people who will support you in any situation come what may. Every person who joins a b-school is going through a similar phase and building strong relations with like-minded people can provide a very strong mental support even in tough times. Needless to say, it will be the moments spend together that will be cherished in the long run and not the classroom studies or placements.
Lastly eat well, sleep well and take life as it comes because you cannot say what will be there in store for you the next moment (especially placement talks :p). Take everything with positivity and hopefully, you can survive the toughest phase in a b-school smoothly!