Balancing between academics and extracurricular activities: Vijay Singh Kholiya

When I was in class X, I didn’t know much about computers. I just had the basic knowledge of MS Office and was interested in playing games on the computer. I was not a very bright student but an average one. After class X, we have to choose either science or commerce stream. In my case, it was obvious that I had to take science because my family members and relatives told me to and because it has more good opportunities and vast scope. An additional subject was to be chosen and the options were Computer Science and Physical Education. I was going to opt for Physical Education but my father convinced me to take Computer Science. When I gained some knowledge regarding programming, I got very interested in this field and researched about its scope in future and gladly, I found that this field has the highest scope as compared to other fields. So, I took a decision to pursue B.Tech in Computer Science. Then came a very important part of life- choosing a good engineering college. As we all know that there are thousands of engineering colleges and yearly, lakhs of engineers pass out from these engineering colleges. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to crack the JEE exam so I could not get into any government college and hence, my last option was to join a reputed private college. I went to many colleges like Chitkara University, Chandigarh University, Graphic Era University, etc. When I visited Lovely Professional University and saw the infrastructure and the campus, I was very impressed. I met the counselors there to take admission in the college. 

I secured admission in Lovely Professional University by giving LPUNEST exam. LPUNEST exam is not very hard to crack. One can easily achieve a good score in this exam. Like all the other exams conducted by various private institutions, LPU also conducts its own exam to provide various scholarships to students. I was able to appear in the list of top 10-25% students. I was offered a scholarship of Rs. 40000/- per semester. When I took admission, the fees for my course was Rs. 89500/- per semester. I took admission in EDB i.e Early Decision Benefit, so Rs.5000 was reduced and after deducting my scholarship amount, my actual fee was Rs. 44500/- per semester. Apart from LPUNEST, I gave various exams for both private and government colleges like JEE, MUOET, KIITEE, UPES, etc. I didn’t join any coaching classes for preparation and was completely reliable on self-study. I just bought sample question papers books with answers. I visited some colleges like Chandigarh University, Chitkara University, and Thapar University. I found Chandigarh University good because of its good placement and also its fees was average but later on, when I explored LPU, I took my final decision to take admission here. 

I spent most of the time in the classrooms. I have a total of 23 hours of class from Monday to Friday. In addition to this, since I am a 3rd-year student and have registered for placements services for which I have paid Rs. 8000 extra, I have placement classes on Saturday for 3 hours and that makes my total class hours to 26 hours/week. And the remaining time, I spend in my hostel. When I get free time after class, I also hang out with friends sometimes. Our university also has its own Uni-Mall and in free time, it is the best place to roam. Furthermore, there are many activities, programs, events going on in the campus throughout the year.

We have different classes varying from engineering elective i.e. Data Science to open elective i.e. Data Analysis using SPSS. I love to attend Analytical classes because I love to solve problems that require an analytical mind to solve and therefore I love these classes. I also take IELTS coaching classes and this class is also interesting because you get to interact and boost your confidence while preparing for this exam.

There are many activities taking place on the campus. We have a separate division of Student Welfare block that is just meant for the students to do extra-curricular activities like dancing, singing, teaching, etc. I am not very interested in these activities but I have worked as a student coordinator for Allsoft Solutions Pvt. Ltd. Apart from these, there are many technological hackathons going on and I have participated in some of them. I have also taken part in 2 marathons that were organized by different organizations.

If I were to be given a chance then I would love to learn dancing. It’s not that I am not being given a chance but I can’t take out time for this activity due to my focus on academia. I am very interested in learning to dance. Also, I would love to join our university gym i.e Fitness Edge gym but due to its high fee i.e. Rs. 18000/- for 1 year, I am unable to do so. I end up jogging and exercising on the ground.

My college experience has changed me a lot. When I was in 1^st year, I was so focused on studies that I was least bothered about my health and other activities. After my first year, I started to focus on my health too and started giving time to extra-curricular activities also. So, I joined as a student coordinator for Allsoft Solutions where I got the experience of networking, communicating and influencing people. 

About the Author:

My name is Vijay Singh Kholiya. I am 20 years old. I am from Khatima, which is a small city in Uttarakhand. I am currently pursuing Bachelor of Technology in Computer Science and Engineering from Lovely Professional University. Furthermore, I am skilled in programming languages like C, C++, Java, and Python. I have certifications in Big Data, Cloud Computing, and Data science. I am from a nuclear family consisting of 4 members comprising of my parents and an elder sibling. I have a couple of hobbies. I love to listen music, read books. I also like exercising and writing answers on Quora. My aim in life is to become a data scientist and I want to help the underprivileged people.