"It was feeling like a curse to be auto-passed after a long confusion about whether the HSC exam will be held or not. Many acquaintances of mine were mocking me, calling 'hey, auto!'." Tahirul Islam Talha, a first-semester student in the BBA Department of BRAC University was sharing his story of admission. "I quit science soon after getting stuck in HSC. When I realised switching the stream has been hard on me for the GST (General Science and Technology) method in admission, it was too late. I longed for a university life so much, where I would be able to prove myself once again."
"I had a lot of expectations regarding orientation. Later, when I heard that it will be held online, I felt so disappointed that I did not even attend there." They are having a hybrid semester, he shared later. Although he was satisfied with the offline classes, he shares his disappointments with the online section. For him, the 'chill' part of varsity life is that everyone spends time chitchatting after class. "Students of different courses are in different sections for the open credit system. The schedule does not always match. But everyone waits for the whole group after class, it feels great."
Meanwhile, Tahira Tasrin Mithila, a student of the IER Department of Dhaka University, expressed her satisfaction about the orientation. Although it was a formal event, it was quite informative, she said, which helped her to develop an interest in the subject of her studies. To her, the most fun part of her campus life is the DU campus environment. There are many more reasons to enjoy the DU campus, including getting to know new people, eating street food at low prices, hanging out at TSC, and thousands of books in the library.
However, does the beginning of university life just mean a campus, chitchat, and orientation? A large part of it involves shifting from one's family or home to a residential dorm, hostel or mess house. While this may seem like immense freedom in the eyes of school or college students, this independent life may not always be that easy. "In the first year, getting a seat in the residential dorm is like a daydream here." Eusha Binte Rudaba, a first-year student in the fine arts department, Rajshahi University, shared her experience. When asked about the reason for leaving the first rented house, she said that just after two days of shifting there, when the landlord found out that she was a fine arts student, he said in front of everyone. "We actually don't keep fine-arts girls!" The issue of not getting a house for maiden is very common all over the country and this problem is more prevalent in universities outside Dhaka. So, is there anything interesting in their campus life?
"After admission, it was very interesting to sit outside for classes on the ground, as it was winter! Now it is becoming very difficult in the heat of summer sun, also getting tanned. When I got the chance of having classes inside the classroom, I just felt - if there were separate classrooms for all year's students! Otherwise, everything is just wonderful going on regarding class, seniors and classmates," Said Rudaba.
"Earlier I had no idea about the seniors on this campus. I was quite scared of ragging. But after coming here, the whole idea has changed. Everyone is very cordial and friendly here," Saima Hossain Charu, a first-year student in the statistics department of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet, was speaking. "Often hanging out with friends, visiting tea-estates, going to the stadium to watch a cricket match, having a great time so far. Staying so far from family doesn't seem that hard at all now." Although she got a seat in the residential dorm in the first year and escaped from embarrassment like Rudaba of Rajshahi University, she understood that hall life is not very easy. "Though there is nothing ragging, since we are the most junior batch, a chain of 'senior-ship' has to be maintained in the cases of using the kitchen or washroom. It is very common to stand for a long time in the line for using the washroom or kitchen."
Many HSC and admission candidates are motivated or used to hear that there is no pressure to study in varsity life. "Just relax and 'chill' after admission!" But is it the reality?
"Life became pathetically complicated when I got a chance in a medical college long before the engineering admission exam. I was forced to settle down to a medical career by my family, wherefrom class nine I was interested in maths or logical terms in my subjects," Fahmida Sultana, a first-year student of the CSE department of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) was speaking. She had to get admitted to a medical college under pressure. In that respect, even though it was online, her first university experience was medical college classes. But her indomitable will has made her reach BUET. The sudden announcement of auto-pass, preparation for admission test from there, starting classes in medical college after getting a chance, admission test in BUET and getting admitted at the end of this hectic journey-- has the campus life fulfilled her expectations? "When my classes started, I just realised that it is more challenging compared to my imagination. Everyday classes from 8 am, lab from 2:30 pm to 4:30 pm, class test, assignment, lab report just suck my energy and increase my anxiety of losing my old self." She believes every cloud has its silver lining, and she will be able to maintain all these with a big smile on her face very soon.
The writer is studying at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology.
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