When it comes to higher education, the disparities between high school and college can be pretty overwhelming. In high school, there are not a lot of ways of studying whereas in college, you’ll be juggling a lot of things (including studying) at the same time. Success in high school will not always translate to success at the college level. Engineering is no exception to all this. Here are the 3 pillars you need to construct well to succeed in your engineering course.

1. Study

This is the flesh and bones of your undergraduate degree. Ideally, you want to invest most of your time in studies. A lot of students enter college with the mentality that you don’t really need to study once you’re in college, just passing exams will do. They couldn’t be more wrong (I learnt this the hard way). You are in college to study. Even if you are focussed on just landing a job, you should know that a lot of recruiters rely on grades for shortlisting students.

Now that we’ve established that studying is indeed important, let’s do it the right way or at least not the wrong way. Studying the night before your exams might get you through the exam sometimes, but it isn’t sustainable. You need to start your preparations on day 1, right from the first lecture. Engaging in a healthy mix of online resources and some good old textbook studying (and not last year’s question papers) will help you make the most of your engineering degree,.

2. Co-Curricular Activities  

Balancing your time in academics and co-curricular activities is of immense importance. You definitely want to indulge in both while avoiding overindulgence in either of them.

• Be it a sport, a musical instrument or joining a society, it’s absolutely essential to unwind. I loved Badminton, and I started playing it in the hostel. That was a thing for us then - first college, evening masti & dinner, finally badminton under floodlights at night.

• Getting some experience in organising events in your college’s fest can also be a great learning opportunity.

• You can also print your own magazine, get published as a writer, open a new club/society.

‘Just Do It’ should be your motto in all matters of extra-curricular activities.

3. Jobs (Not just Placements!)

Coming to the end of it all, you most probably want to have a job or two in hand before you graduate, right? Well, it’s not as simple as it sounds. Getting the ‘right’ job offer will not be easy.

• Before jumping into a job, interning at a small firm or a startup might be a good idea. This will give you some much needed and much-appreciated industry exposure.

• Think beyond the placements. The job that you want or the job that is right for you might not be available on campus. You might need to look beyond the campus placements if you want the right job for you.

• Always be on the lookout for online job portals (Bonus Tip: Create a classy Linkedin profile). If you are industry ready with the right skill-set, you may not need campus placements at all to bag your first job.

Before signing off, Gyan Baba needs to give some more gyaan:

College can be a tough nut to crack, guys. I have seen people cribbing about college life, saying that it sucked to the core. I have also seen people missing their college life and crying about it (mostly my senior girl batchmates in farewell). In either case, one thing in common: You are going to talk about your college life always; be it marks, life or masti. So why not do it in a more fun way?

As someone wise once said, “Learn from other people's mistakes; Life is too short to make them all yourself”. Peace.