How my journey at Galgotias University began: Sargam Sharma

Sargam Sharma

When I was entering XI grade, I had anxiety disorder and was down with major depression. I barely used to leave the house. However, one thing was always clear to me – I was not going to choose Commerce. I studied at St Jude’s School, Dehradun, Uttarakhand. Our school was affiliated to ICSE board and only offered two streams. I had Science in X grade so, I knew I had to choose the same stream in XI grade too. I was not sure of choosing Engineering as a career at that time.

Throughout High school, I was suffering from the anxiety disorder and depression so I could not attend school regularly and was not able to score good marks. I graduated from High school with 71% marks. I had not thought I would go for Engineering. So, like every other High school graduate I thought a lot about my career options. I asked anyone and everyone I knew about the same. I posted on several forums and discussion groups on different websites. I was interested in many subjects such as Fine Arts, English, and Literature. At one point I even thought of choosing NDA as a career but everyone advised me to go for a stable career option. So, I chose Engineering considering that it would open a lot of options for me after I become a graduate. I had initially thought of studying Electrical Engineering. After a lot of thought and advises from my family, relatives and almost everyone I met, I made up my mind to choose Computer Science Engineering. One of the major reasons for choosing Computer Science was also because I always had a keen interest in the subject.

How I cracked college admission

I was clueless after I passed my school. I had got an average percentage of 71% in XII grade. I had not even attended coaching for JEE Mains. I did take the exam but got an average rank. I was planning to go abroad for undergraduate studies. I took SAT and SAT Subject Tests without any preparation. I again got an average score but it was accepted in a few good universities. But, my parents later decided that I should at least complete my undergraduate education in India as I was not ready yet. So, then I had to forget about IITs and top government colleges because my JEE Mains rank and percentage did not qualify for them.

The only options available for me were private universities. I researched good private universities and someone suggested me to visit Galgotias University campus when I was staying in Ghaziabad at my aunt’s place. I had already applied for Amity University, SRM University and Jaypee University of Information Technology, Solan. I qualified the written test as well as the interview for Amity University and got accepted. I got accepted in SRM University and Jaypee University of Information Technology too. I visited SRM University but had to rule out Jaypee from the options because of its location. When I visited Galgotias University, I liked the feel of the campus – how it had an institute-like vibe unlike that of a college. My family members talked to few students on campus and asked for their reviews. They were satisfied by the reviews, facilities, and placements. The location was not too far from my relative’s place and Greater Noida seemed like a good place as it is in the outskirts of Delhi and there is not much population. Also, the place is much cleaner and has a better living environment than Delhi. All of these factors made me choose Galgotias University.

What I gained from my college experience

Since the first day I stepped my foot in the campus, college has been a crazy ride for me. I remember the first day – almost everyone was trying to talk to the maximum number of people they could and create their social circle which had to be as large as possible. My social circle began with my room mates – the first roommates I ever had. The idea of sharing a room with two strangers used to make me anxious. But, it was not so bad. They became my first friends in the college. One of them is one of the closest friends I have now. It is a great experience and you learn a lot by making good friends. In only a few days, I made two crazy friends who are now my best friends. Those guys are completely opposite to me but I still feel them to be a big part of my life now.

A typical day in my college life

I wake up at around 7:00 AM, get ready and then rush downstairs to the mess for breakfast. Mess food is not the best but not bad. After the breakfast, I run to catch the bus and reach university by 9:00 AM. My classes begin at 9:10 AM. I try to attend classes as much as I can but skip some occasionally to hang out with my friends. We usually hang out in the campus cafeteria and have our regular cold coffee. We often sit in any corner of the campus we can find and chat, take walks, go out and just have fun. It is all about finding the right people in college – people who are just as crazy as you are. Luckily, I have found some such people. We usually reach hostel at around 6:00 PM after which we are free to do whatever we want. I personally spend a lot of the time sleeping and the rest of the time goes in doing pending assignments. During exams I spend time in last minute studies – to test the limits of my ability of course. In rest of my free time, I like working on projects and research. The classes that I like to attend are Advanced Java and Cloud Deployment model classes. The faculties for both the classes are great and very chill. When I have a day off, I usually go out to explore Delhi (sometimes on my own) by trying different cuisines and visiting eating joints, historical places, museums, events and book fairs. I also love going to music fests whenever they take place.

I am a member of Fine Arts Club of Galgotias University. We decide the décor and make banners and posters for almost all events that take place here. I love art and doing this creative stuff gives me a lot of satisfaction. In general, I am a competitive person and like making use of every opportunity that I can get. I have participated in various fests and contests in college and have won a few including IoT National Robotics workshop cum championship IIT Madras based on Arduino, Spelling Bee, Logo Design Contest, Sketching Masters and Java programming contest. If I have a chance, I would like to go around the world and learn from some of the best Engineers and Scientists and get an opportunity to work on projects with them.

In these three years, I have had many highs and lows, many experiences that have changed me as a person. I came here as a kid who did not know much about the real world. I have learned many lessons during these three years about how to survive in the real world, how to talk to people, and how not to easily trust everyone. There are different kinds of people and not everyone has the same views as you have. However, I have enjoyed my time in Galgotias University and made many memories – I am only learning more every day.

About the Author:

I am a third year student at Galgotias University and study BTech (Computer Science Engineering). I have always been inclined towards computers and every gadget I could get my hands on. I am like music, art and anything to do with design. I freelance as a graphic designer as well as a web developer and mostly work on PHP and JavaScript.

Last month I did an internship as a web developer at National Informatics Centre (NIC), New Delhi (CGA, Ministry of Finance) and my love for working in this field only grew. I have also been researching on Cloud load balancing and other areas related to cloud computing. I am currently working on making lecture videos related to Programming and these will hopefully be available on YouTube soon.