My First Year of College at Model Engineering College

MEC, Engineering, Computer Science, College life, Academics, Career

I have now successfully completed the first year of my Computer Science and Engineering graduation course from Govt Model Engineering College, Kochi.

Throwback on my route to MEC

After the big chaos of CBSE board exams and entrance exams which took place in the months of March, April, and May, the month of June was the only solace. With the Board exam results being fair, and JEE results which were not so great, I was totally in a confusion whether to go for Engineering or not. That thought continued until the last moment of admission. Engineering was something so special for all family members and relatives rather than other degrees. My mom and dad are engineers too, so of course, they still like to see me with a B Tech degree. They feel that the moment you leave College with a B Tech degree, your life is secured. I may not agree with them fully still somehow I made up my mind to go ahead with Engineering. I was still fond of doing a Science degree either in Physics or Chemistry.

My chances of Getting to NITs was nil, so all my eyes were on KEAM. I was sure to get a seat in a Govt College of Kerala. The decision for which Branch to select and whether to stay in a hostel or not was the next big hurdle. My father was of the opinion that I may not get adjusted to hostel life, instead, I may go to college as a day scholar. This idea wasn’t that bad for me, I was used to staying in my home. My home is like a paradise for me. You get tasty food, unlimited wifi, freedom, unlimited sleep etc. The only govt college at a fair distance from my home was Mar Athanasius College, Kothamangalam (MACE). But travelling from home to college and back every day would be tiring. The other option was quite a new name to me “Govt Model Eng College, Thrikkakara(MEC)”. Seemed familiar, but I had never heard of it before as a great college. It was 5 km away from my school and 12 km away from my home.

Despite all this, confusions in the mind of parents still persisted, they contacted every person in the town they knew to ask how good the college is. Every person they talked to had only one thing to say, “Model is a good college, Perhaps the best in the City”. They were now a bit calmer on the issue but they never stopped taking advice on the same. MEC had only four branches CS, EC, EEE, and EB, unlike other colleges I heard of. It was strange to me, but the CS and EC were the only two branches that I was totally interested in. I never wanted my syllabus to go too harsh on me. Also, I felt that taking CS would be safe play (I was ok with it; I knew the basics of it as I took it as my optional subject in class which will be my core).

I met one of the alumni of MEC, who just passed out that year, who was also my family friend. He gave me a clear idea of how to keep the college options as the preference for admission and also regarding what to expect in MEC. He had a strong opinion that MEC is the best and only College of Engg. , Trivandrum, CET can be superior to it. So, MEC was finalised for my admission. Being active on Quora, I came to know about Joel Vilanilam Zachariah, who was then a first-year student in MEC and was guiding me ever since I completed my KEAM exam. He was also of the same opinion that CS in MEC is the best option for my rank. My cousin‘s sisters were also Btech alumni from CET, even they suggested MEC(compared to CET).

Admission in MEC

In mid-July, I got my first allotment at MEC but that was for the EC branch, but by the second allotment, I got the higher preference, ie the CS branch, that too at MEC. My parents were happy about that. The next day, we had to go to college to confirm our seat at the college. In the afternoon, we reached MEC, roughly a half-hour drive. First time seeing the college, it looked fine from the outside but as we entered in, we came to know that the entire college is located in this single diamond building with an amphitheatre in the middle, which was quite strange for my parents as they have studied in colleges whose campus are very big and sprawling. I even found that my school was much bigger than the college itself but approximately accommodated the same number of students at the college.

Inside the college, we were made to sit in an auditorium, and fill the forms which were to submit to the college to confirm our admission, along with the payment of the fees of the first year (Fees are a bit high as it is a self-financing). Standing in one place of college, you can see the entire college in a single view. That was totally amazing. It took 5 hours to get our papers submitted as we were given a token in there arrived for counselling. I reached home by 8 pm, and as usual, my parents started to talk about how I should move about this course as a whole.

The only disappointing thing which I felt was regarding wearing uniforms to college, as it still makes me feel like a schoolboy.

August 1st was the first day in my college, over 360 students were there in the building totally confused about what to do. The list displayed outside the hall had my name written in the CS-A section with 61 students. We were taken to the auditorium that can hardly get 100 people seated, the rest of them kept standing. From there we were taken to respective classrooms while parents went to another hall, to listen to the Principal on important guidelines. I came to the class in total confusion; hardly 10 familiar faces in the entire first year who studied with me in the same school. I sat, with ASWIN SHANIL, perhaps meeting for the first time, explaining about himself. Then our Staff Advisor Miss enters the class telling about the Dos and Don’ts in MEC. Suddenly I felt that the college is pretty strict, but as time passed, I got to know that it was not. I was just an average student in the class.

Academics, Activities and College Life

Coming to academics, we had almost the same things which we learned at school, except with the term Engineering or Technology getting into every subject name. The totally new subjects which we had to learn were Engineering Graphics and Python programming. Engineering Graphics was tough at the first outlook, but everyone could grasp it easily and master it, and I would like to thank our teacher, for the same. Python, despite being new for many was easy to follow and understand. Eng Physics was the most interesting subject I felt (Of course it was my favourite subject too), with Quantum Mechanics, Lasers, Superconductors etc. Maths was pretty practice and learn the subject.

Basics of Electrical Eng and Basics of Electronics Eng were truly challenging with a vast syllabus and lots of numerals, reasoning, and diagrams. Eng Chemistry and Eng Mechanics despite having catchy names were just boring subjects, the chemistry was totally different from class 12. Here we had to literally learn everything by heart and write the exam. Mechanics was just a revision of class 11 physics which is just a dry portion with only numerical. The only light subjects of both the Semesters were Sustainable Eng and Design Engg, where we literally don’t need prior preparation for the first one and another one was an open book exam. Compared to class 12, both semesters were easy with each subject having (only) 6 modules. Just studying the day before the exam can fetch you 70%.

Had to say that Classes were handled by faculty better than expected, despite having to stay 6 hours every day in class. Even labs went on smoothly without many issues.

The first year was mainly 90% academics and 10% extra activities, as first-year students were restricted till the middle of the second semester from going for organising activities, but we were free to volunteer for them. The biggest attraction which I saw for the first time in the college itself was my first shock (As I never expected an Eng College to host a MUN). Within a month after joining the college, I got a random poster showing MEC MUN, the Model United Nations hosted by MEC. I was delighted with it and decided to participate.

The main highlight, after all, being in MEC is its tech-fest EXCEL. It happened in the month of October. Just a week before that was the MUN(which was mentioned above).

MEC MUN 2017, the flagship event happened to be an extraordinary event for many reasons, the prominent one is being the first MUN that I have taken part in and enjoyed the most. As a writer in Quora, the Head of the Marketing team, approached me for working with them to market Excel on Quora. So, I had to make up my mind and try something new, which a lot of them had helped me with and I am thankful to them for the same.

Excel 2017, as said was my first Tech fest I had attended, it was marketed as a big event along with 2nd years, 3rd years, and 4th years, running upside down since we came into the college. Excel was mainly a 3-day event where students organise competitions and workshops for other students coming mostly from other colleges and even our own students. Events are mainly tech-related and a few non-tech like managerial, and games. Pre-Excel events are also there where people can play online games and participate in coding competitions. My participation was not effective throughout the three days.

The most exciting thing that happened to me was being the College topper in the IEEE PES quiz and being selected for Hub and State Level which was held at TKM College. I had won second prize in both the Hub and State level, which was a big surprise to me. The quiz was mainly based on General Knowledge. The prize money I had got for the same I took an IEEE membership with that.

In January and February 2018, after my second semester began, we had a fortnight-long Arts and Sports Fest. This was officially the first time when First Years are officially called in for volunteering and participation. The unity of MEC as a single-family was clearly evident and our love for MEC was at the peak. The entire college was divided into 4 houses, sadly my house couldn’t make it for winning the overall prize, despite being a tough competitor. My Participation in the event was just restricted to Chess, Debate, Quiz, and Extempore, all of which saw my disappointing performance.

By February last, preparations for Excel 2018 began, notably the Content team. It's the content team that works from A to Z regarding the preparation of content for all the events coming under Excel. Being a UPSC aspirant, the things which are important are acquiring knowledge and having good writing skills. Seeing the golden opportunity for me, for preparing for the latter, I joined the team.

Along with content, we are also the writers of Paperkin blog which was totally a new initiative under Nikita Mallya that we are totally happy to be part of.

In the first week of March, the organisers of MEC MUN decided to go on for MACE MUN 2018, which was one of the best MUN in Kerala as a delegation. I also joined in and believed to have done well at the conference. Travelling with friends and staying at a hostel was after all the best thing about this event. I also met my long time online friend studying at MACE, Kavith Vishwanath. It was also my pleasure to meet Anand Nandakumar at the same event.

By April of our first year, it came to an end with Teachers hurrying to end the portions before study leave began. We had a two-week study leave before the first exam and one week for each exam. KTU had a bad name, for continuously postponing the exams with my seniors. Even we were not spared as our exams were postponed twice. The Last Paper of the CS branch, The Basics of C Programming was postponed twenty days ahead to the month of June, Thus delaying our vacation.

From April last itself, holiday mood began for everyone. It was more of a vacation than a study leave. So totally summarizing, it was a four-month long vacation with exams in between.

In June, there was Enviro MUN conducted by RCE Trivandrum at CET, in which I participated. It was more like a trip than a MUN visit. The majority of my holidays were mainly engaged with Social Media, Studies, and Games. Just after my exams were over, I decided to spend time watching movies and reading books. So I downloaded a lot of E-books and Movies to keep myself engaged. Still, E-books are not as fun as physical books. It was also the time to sharpen our skills like Maths, History, and Reasoning which can come in handy in Future.

As always, my mind was into National and International Politics and FIFA 2018

Thus my first year of college ended, a bit different than how I expected and how I spent my life before college, but yet more similar to the homely atmosphere at the school. I made more friends in one year than in my entire school life.

I am looking forward to the next surprising year. I hope the second year will be the continuation of the first year. I still don’t know why but I still feel like I am still in school. Whether a school or a college doesn’t matter, how you get things done matters more. Looking forward to new subjects, new friends, Excel, MUNs, and memories to cherish forever.

Thank You for taking the time to read it, Hope You also cherished your memories!!!!

Key to few abbreviations

Govt- Government

NIT- National Institute of Technology

MUN- Model United Nations

CBSE- Board of Education in India

CS- Computer Science, EC- Electronics, EE- Electrical, EB- Biomedical

MEC- Model Engg. College

JEE- Joint Engg. Entrance Exam

KEAM- Kerala Engg Architectural Medical Exam

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