Even before our Board Exams start, we often fantasize about our college lives. We all have lists of dream colleges and how our campus life will be something right out of a movie. However, really hits when we finally get admissions. A lot of us choose our colleges over the preferred course while a lot of us sacrifice our dream college for the preferred choice of course. Either ways, we are assigned a place where we will be spending the next three to four years of our lives. And that is something most of us accept and grow to like, as well. However, your college life does not have to be confined to your college only and there are a lot of things you can do to make sure you explore everything worth knowing.
While there is definitely a special attachment and feeling of familiarity and homeliness that we attach to our own colleges, certain times, it can be limiting. Each college has its own culture and the exposure can lead to your growth as an individual. Here are a few ways to experience life and people, beyond what has been offered.
- Inter-College Events
If you’re a part of a society, inter-college competitions can be a great way to visit new college campuses, meet people from other colleges who share the same interests and also get out of your comfort zone. If you’re not a part of any societies, there are various other events such as open-mic eventsand cultural events which you can attend at other colleges and it helps you meet new people all over the city!
- Inter-College Academic Programmes
A lot of colleges offer language courses and short term professional courses which are open to students from other colleges as well. These could be relevant to your course or could be a completely new skill but the benefit is that along with learning something new, you get to interact with the students and the faculty of a different college, both of which open up new avenues.
- Internships
There are plenty of start-ups which hire college students and working here gives you a new skill set, some pocket money and also allows you to know and learn, not only from people of your own age group, but also from people in a professional setting. Being a college student does not mean that you have to be restricted to interacting with your age group but you can be a part of several other organisations as well.
- Exchange Programmes
While not all, most universities and colleges do offer some exchange programmes. These are essentially programmes where you can go and live in another country and be a student of a college in this country. The length of these programmes varies from three months to an entire semester and it is an experience which lets you experience the culture, student life and ideals of another country. Sometimes the seats in these programmes are based on scholarships but they could also be on a first come first serve basis so make sure to keep a check on your college website or enquire in the office to find out the details.
Apart from these, you could volunteer in NGOs, start your own initiatives for social causes or just engage in more inter-disciplinary learning. College is a time when we explore all of our options and abilities and simply being confined to your college and course could lead to your missing out on a lot of opportunities that you could excel in!
