A Day in the Life of an SVNIT Freshman

So, you’ve finally made it all the way to SVNIT and you’re wondering what your life will be like now. Well, you have two options: you can be a sloth who lies in their hostel room every moment they’re not in class, or you can be an adventurer who spends their time post 6 PM exploring the truckloads of exciting activities on campus. I highly recommend the latter. Be an exciting human, not a sloth. Now, let me give you a sneak peek into what you can expect from an average day in SVNIT.

In the beginning, you’ll have boundless energy to wake up early, take a nice shower, and reach the mess on time for a scrumptious breakfast. You’ll calmly walk out the hostel gates, find an empty seat on the college bus, and get to class well ahead of time. However, as the months go by, this bubbly enthusiasm will start to erode. You’ll start waking up just 30 minutes before your 1st lecture begins, develop godlike abilities of getting ready to sprint out your door in under 10 minutes, and frantically run to class with a heavy backpack bouncing on your back. Fret not, you’ll become a certified Olympic sprinter after running around so much on campus. Unless of course, you decide to buy yourself a bicycle. Be warned though — you would be plagued by inferiority complex when a panicking student with dangerously low attendance overtakes your cycle on foot.

After four hours of lectures (or labs for some students), you’ll be famished. You’ll think of stopping by at the canteen for a tasty lunch, but the overcrowded building and your thinning wallet will convince you to settle for the mess instead. Once again, if the gods of fortune are feeling generous, you’ll get a seat on the bus and reach your hostel’s mess in style. However, you’re more likely to walk along the foliagecovered roads, chatting with your friends about every topic under the sun. After calming your rumbling stomach in the mess, you’ll head back to your hostel room with a full belly for a few minutes of rest. However, as soon as the tendrils of sleep draw you in, it will be time to head out to your next set of classes (labs for most, lectures for some). When classes finally end at 6 PM, you’ll have an unlimited number of options to choose from. While some may head out to the Old CRC lawns to relax and chat with friends after a busy day, others will simply head straight to their club meetings or sports practice sessions (which they’re already late for). While hungry souls rush to the canteen, night canteens, or the vada pav stall outside the college main gate to satiate their hunger, starcrossed lovers separated for 4 whole hours reunite elsewhere on campus. Some, however, head straight back to their hostels and collapse on the bed after another exhausting day.

Under the receding glow of dusk, students enter the mess for dinner or step out for a merry evening outside campus in one of the various malls, shopping complexes, restaurants, or cafes in Surat. The fun and laughter with friends extends well into the night — less if you’re outside campus, more if you’re inside the hostel premises. When food cravings strike again, you can stroll to your respective hostel’s night canteen (or if you’re feeling adventurous, into another hostel’s), usually open from 10 PM to 2 AM (and also in the evenings from 4 PM to 7 PM).

With your sleep cycle already ruined after another night of crazy antics and bingewatching random shows or movies all night, you wake up groggy once again, and repeat.