It's been almost a month since I reached Pilani and third year of engineering commenced. I wanted to write sooner but paucity of time, settling in period, insane schedules etc etc didn't let me. The temperature when I reached here was horrible. (It's a desert, what do you expect?) but it's improved over the last few days. It was good catching up with friends after the 2.5 months' gap. Have a mixed bag of courses this semester with a couple of electives thrown in.
Well, what else, the pressure is on like every time. The curriculum is designed to keep you on your toes. My schedule over the past few days will give you an idea of the rigor. Had a presentation today so prepared till 1:30 in the morning for that and AFTER that started preparing for the 3 quizzes which might/might not have been conducted today. (Fortunately they weren't.) And it's been like that for the past fortnight now. Seriously the most precious commodity on campus is sleep. It probably is tolerable if you manage your time well, but unfortunately I don't, I am a sucker for instant gratification so end up doing the stuff that matters as late as possible.
If you are wondering about the might/might not funda of the quiz- see BITS doesn't require you to attend classes. It's very chilled out that way and probably the only college I know of so far which requires 0% attendance. Some guys here (I prefer the word Gods) don't even attend a single class the whole semester! People are from other colleges actually are shocked on hearing this and instantly start complaining about the ridiculously high percentage of classes they are required to attend. But they forget one small point. The authorities and teachers here aren't idiots. If they were, they probably wouldn't be here. So the pretty little system they have devised and which is now as much a part if BITS as the iconic clock tower is the system of surprise quizzes. Also referred to as "tutes" or "SupTs" inpopular BITSian lingo. We students have also devised our own stratagems like checking for the presence of the notorious brown envelope (teachers usually bring the quiz papers in that) when the teacher walks in and if it's not there, we can notify our friends who are anxiously waiting for the SMS which will grant them a reprieve so that they can resume their precious sleep and if the SMS turns out to be otherwise, the plan is to put on pants, take a pen and run as fast as you can for the class and if the teacher is merciful, you might be allowed to enter late. Another tried and tested way is to miss the next couple of classes immediately after the quiz because most (but not all) teachers are so diabolical that they will conduct two quizzes in a row.
But profs (teachers sounds childish) have also found ways to beat the systems, Some of the more infamous ones walk in innocuously without the dreaded envelope but when 10 minutes before the class gets over, their assistant walks in with a devilish grin and armed with our worst nightmare- the brown envelope.
So it's a constant battle actually, one that we sometimes win and sometimes lose. If you are wondering what's the problem with missing a few quizzes, let me assure you that every single mark that you can scrape here is precious and hard earned and will count when the profs decide your grade, the one thing that most people here would literally kill for.
OK will probably tell more about the arbitrary stuff here as and when I get the time. Besides my laptop has constantly been giving me shocks since I started writing. (My "bhavan" (BITSian lingo for hostel) hasn't been earthed since the time it was built probably 50 or so years ago; hence the shocks. ) I have had my share of electrocution therapy for now.
WTPA?
Well, what else, the pressure is on like every time. The curriculum is designed to keep you on your toes. My schedule over the past few days will give you an idea of the rigor. Had a presentation today so prepared till 1:30 in the morning for that and AFTER that started preparing for the 3 quizzes which might/might not have been conducted today. (Fortunately they weren't.) And it's been like that for the past fortnight now. Seriously the most precious commodity on campus is sleep. It probably is tolerable if you manage your time well, but unfortunately I don't, I am a sucker for instant gratification so end up doing the stuff that matters as late as possible.
If you are wondering about the might/might not funda of the quiz- see BITS doesn't require you to attend classes. It's very chilled out that way and probably the only college I know of so far which requires 0% attendance. Some guys here (I prefer the word Gods) don't even attend a single class the whole semester! People are from other colleges actually are shocked on hearing this and instantly start complaining about the ridiculously high percentage of classes they are required to attend. But they forget one small point. The authorities and teachers here aren't idiots. If they were, they probably wouldn't be here. So the pretty little system they have devised and which is now as much a part if BITS as the iconic clock tower is the system of surprise quizzes. Also referred to as "tutes" or "SupTs" inpopular BITSian lingo. We students have also devised our own stratagems like checking for the presence of the notorious brown envelope (teachers usually bring the quiz papers in that) when the teacher walks in and if it's not there, we can notify our friends who are anxiously waiting for the SMS which will grant them a reprieve so that they can resume their precious sleep and if the SMS turns out to be otherwise, the plan is to put on pants, take a pen and run as fast as you can for the class and if the teacher is merciful, you might be allowed to enter late. Another tried and tested way is to miss the next couple of classes immediately after the quiz because most (but not all) teachers are so diabolical that they will conduct two quizzes in a row.
But profs (teachers sounds childish) have also found ways to beat the systems, Some of the more infamous ones walk in innocuously without the dreaded envelope but when 10 minutes before the class gets over, their assistant walks in with a devilish grin and armed with our worst nightmare- the brown envelope.
So it's a constant battle actually, one that we sometimes win and sometimes lose. If you are wondering what's the problem with missing a few quizzes, let me assure you that every single mark that you can scrape here is precious and hard earned and will count when the profs decide your grade, the one thing that most people here would literally kill for.
OK will probably tell more about the arbitrary stuff here as and when I get the time. Besides my laptop has constantly been giving me shocks since I started writing. (My "bhavan" (BITSian lingo for hostel) hasn't been earthed since the time it was built probably 50 or so years ago; hence the shocks. ) I have had my share of electrocution therapy for now.
WTPA?
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