Wednesday 30 September 2015

My First Day at College

My First Day at College

I am sure that most people would remember their first day of most events in their life as each first day is filled with a certain amount of anxiety, expectations, hopes, fears and excitement. I was asked to write about my first day at college and I had to delve into the deep recesses of my failing memory and try and piece together a competent, sane, interesting essay. Going back 18 years was not very easy and it just reminded me of how old I’ve grown, but it’s nice to sometimes sit back and reminisce the good old days.

I do remember it was an extremely hot day, I was running late as I had just come back from my NIIT classes. I rummaged through my cupboard and picked the first thing I saw. I had mixed feelings about not wearing a uniform, as I found it to be very practical and it eliminated the conundrum of choosing what to wear each day. I wore a brown T-Shirt with a swordfish embroidered on it and black jeans. Walking into college, was exciting and terrifying at the same time. I was no longer a child, I would be recognized as an adult and my decisions and actions over the course of the next 5 years would basically determine my success, achievements and popularity.

After spending 10 years in an all-boys school, I was terrified and excited to finally be in the same room as the fairer sex. Most women in my class were twice my size as my pituitary glands were still dormant; I was 5.2 and a size negative 2.

The first lecture started off with a bang, as one macho smart aleck tried to impress the girls by whistling during roll call. Unfortunately the professor was not amused and she made it very clear on the first day that she was in charge, In front of 120 students she slapped him! that slap echoed the hall of the the college.

Pin drop silence; everyone was on their best behavior for the next 45 minutes. Every professor that came to our class post the first lecture was studied carefully for the first 10minutes and was ‘SWOT’ analyzed.

I spent the first day observing who I should approach and who I should avoid. I was able to bucket people into 3 categories, the Attention Seekers, Regulars and the Invisibles. The attention seekers were loud, extremely confident and looked for any opportunity to make an impression, unfortunately some gained attention for the wrong reasons, like the ‘whistler’.  The regulars were people that adjusted perfectly; it felt like they had rehearsed their first day countless times. I was one of the invisibles, I didn’t want to draw attention to myself and I did whatever I could to just blend in.

Being the son of a high school teacher made me even more cautious. I didn’t want to draw unnecessary attention. I don’t remember who I met or who I spoke to on the first day, but the friendships I forged in the first few days at college have been some of the best ones.