Season of college dilemma

If you are this year’s SLC graduate and if it’s time for you to choose a college, you might be having a tough time making a right decision. I am sure you are going through a lot of stress and pressure. It is a season of college dilemma. No matter what you scored in your board exam and no matter where you come from, the problems are almost the same. All the students and their guardians are seeking answers to big questions like what to study and where to study.

However, a simple, and the most important, thing one needs to keep in mind at the moment is student’s inner interests. There are some external factors that stop students from following their heart. Many go for popular courses without giving consideration to their interests and abilities. Students won’t fare well in a subject if it is not something they are interested in no matter how good the subjects and colleges in question are. This is the period students need to examine themselves as to ‘what their abilities, strengths and weaknesses are’ and ‘where they would like to see themselves 10 years down the line’.

Parents need to guide their children but should also let them make their own decisions. They should also realise that students today can be more aware than their parents of what to study and why. Students are not averse to experimentation for a right choice, which is a crucial thing to many.

Everything that Glitters is not necessarily Gold

College Blues

After graduating from high school, I was thrilled to get into a college. I was actually taken up by the college life they show in the Hollywood movies: the discussion based classes, flexibility in choosing courses, small class size, research oriented teaching and all other fancy paraphernelia. I knew I had to be there in the US (or EU countries among others) to have all these facilities. And, I knew I was not going to attend any Ivies, so I didn’t expect those facilities here. Even so, I had hoped for a minimum of standards. To my utter disappointment, I found the college a nightmare the very first day.
The saddest part of attending government colleges (besides some) here is the way troubles get the better of you right from early in the morning. I have to wake up before my alarm clock starts ringing and hurriedly hop into a micro bus to reach college. It is not that I wake up late. It’s because if I don’t reach half an hour ahead of time I won’t find a seat in the lecture hall. These halls are so crowded that the lecture is hardly audible to the poor backbenchers. Evere watched a muted movie? That’s what it feels like. And, just when you are having a real bad day you get to know what it is like being a reporter jotting down a political leader’s speech at a mass gathering. Well, isn’t it fun when you are getting the first hand experience of journalism even when you are a science major?


College is very different from high school; it’s a whole new environment. Some students get confused as to what to expect and how to act. Instead of having a counseling department to sort out students’ confusions, there is a department that specialises in another kind of counseling and orientation, a political one. Leaders of the students’ unions are always more than ready to brainwash you politically and involve in their politically motivated activities. The frustrating part is that there is not just a single union, there are at least half a dozen of them. It would have been much better if freshmen were asked to join science clubs, theatre clubs and students’ government body. Agreed, students should be politically aware but can student unions governed by muscle power be accorded credibility? 

HOSTEL Diary

HOSTEL; its often said ‘Home away from home'. But home is not as hard as hostel life is. A hostel life is really something hard. It is the same everyday; yesterday, today and tomorrow seem no different.

Being a hostel student for past two years, I had both interesting and bitter experiences. Initially, I used to feel lonely and isolated at hostel. Being a village student from outside the valley, I was scared with the student from different communities and groups. But gradually, the magic of hostel is cast upon new resident. With new relationships, responsibilities and friendships, it started being comfortable.

To more extent Hostel is a good alternative for learning students. As exam pass, we feel like some burden has been removed from our shoulders. However exam pressure is most difficult time in hostel life. Exams are very restless periods. We don’t get to sleep until an exam pass. Competitive atmosphere in hostel sounds much interesting. One friend does not go for sleep until next friend switches off lights in his room. ‘How much have you prepared?’ is the common question during dining table. ‘Nothing, and you?’ the other replies.

Ragging is most common problems for new comers. Juniors had to do some unusual behaviors as per the seniors’ wish. Homesickness is the next trouble. Love always drags us back home. Immediately after the holidays are announced, everyone is in a hurry to rush home. There is some unusual shine in everyone’s face when Saturday’s morning comes. At hostel I hardly get calls, besides my parents of course. My phone used to buzz non-stop at home, but I was not allowed to use cell phones at my hostel. That was the really difficult situation for me. So getting emails makes me much exited. Later I started keeping cell phones violating hostel rules. As I switches on at mid night, I used to get so many sms which makes me much excited.

This might be something normal for those who have lived in a hostel for a really long time. But my entry to the hostel life at the age of 15 was not a trifle matter for me. Although I was far from the members of my family, I really overjoyed being with my friends from different parts of Nepal.

As my experiences say, one learns to become independent, social and duty bound in hostel. We harbor confidence and courage and try to find happiness from everything. The actual value of freedom values in hostel. It teaches the importance of discipline, co-operation, unity and compromises.

My hostel days are almost over now. But the hostel memories will always last; last forever. Days will pass out but memories will always survive. Memories of every bit of moments we studied for whole night, memories of every bit of moments we talked on mobile phones violating hostel rules, memories of every bit of moments we prepared chicken roost in heater at midnight will always keep memories of my college days alive.