Mathematics has always been my favorite and when I got Mathematics & Computing, IIT Kharagpur I was on cloud nine. I did a quick Google and landed to the official site of our institute. That was the first time and also the last time when I had paid close attention to each of the tabs in the site. The five years of stay at this land has been phenomenal. I know time flies but this fast, I had no idea.

So I started my first year with full innocence, attended almost all my classes the first few days after which I came to know about this beautiful concept--proxy. The first year passed mostly in making new friends, understanding DC++, giving auditions for societies I had no idea about whatsoever, celebrating birthdays--GPLand attending a few classes. Needless to say, I had screwed my CGPA badly.

Something happened in the very beginning of 2nd year. I got serious with my academics, a little and then I met Professor G.P Raja Sekhar. Well, he needs no introduction. We had 9 credits under him, such a strict professor he was that I managed to attend almost all his classes even the 7:30 ones. That helped and I ended up improving my CGPA. Thank you Sir. I owe this one to you.

Third year went normal –attending a few more classes, this time in our department mostly. I had my internship at IDRBT–an RBI institute in Hyderabad. I feel this internship opportunity is highly under-rated. I urge all you juniors to have a look at this opportunity. I met some juniors and a few seniors of our department. One can find a Kgpian in almost every city. Two months internship got over like a breeze.

Fourth year, this is the time when you get to know the real competition –internship season. Some 10 students could manage to get an internship offer from TnP. The rest of us tried our luck off-campus. I landed up in Mumbai at CRISIL Limited for internship. Mumbai is a city full of life and happenings.

Then came the final year –the placement season. You end up attending more PPTs than your classes. This green site–TnP automatically becomes your homepage. You study more in these four months than all of your first four years combined. A typical day consists of getting CV reviews from your seniors, discussing puzzles, brushing up your coding skills, solving case studies and attending some PPTs. Being proactive is the key. Be well prepared and you will bag your dream job quite easily. Talk to relevant seniors –they know a lot.

I was offered the job of statistical analyst at WalmartLabs. The interview revolved mostly around Statistics, my internships and a few puzzles. Having placed, the last semester is a total delight. You are about to leave your institute so all your emotional chords get stroked. You wonder doing all things which you might have missed during your four years stay at IIT Kharagpur.

I wish all the very best to my junior batch in their future endeavors.

You won't get a life like Kgp anywhere else. Make it count.