It is the second time lucky for Rasheed Amina Karim Firdous who found exactly what he was looking for at SRM University, AP. After pursuing a semester in Computer Science Engineering, the young man from Vijayawada dropped out only to find his true calling. The B. Sc (Hons.) Economics, Class of 2023 student looks back on his first year at the university and tells us why he feels he is in the right place at the right time.
“Unlike most of my batch mates, my college journey began differently. I pursued a semester in Computer Science Engineering but realized that it wasn’t for me. Around that time, my father was seriously ill so I dropped out for a semester. The gap and space I had made me realize what I really wanted, and this time I found exactly that at SRM University, AP.
I enrolled for B. Sc (Hons.) Economics program and to my surprise my story resonated with that of our faculty Ms. Shrabani Mukherjee. When she shared her story with the class I felt instantly connected and knew that I was in the right place. Her encouragement has motivated me and made me more disciplined towards academics, especially at a time when I was feeling unsure and unsteady.
Everything at the university has been a pleasant surprise from day 1. Let’s start with the virtual campus tour, which had me mesmerized. It is wonderful to see that the campus has been built while keeping the balance between aesthetics and the environment. It has all the modern amenities that are designed keeping students’ needs in mind.
The virtual orientation was planned with activities on mental health, yoga, budget as well as some fun tournaments. It was particularly thoughtful to focus on mental health in the last year of uncertainties. I am grateful to be able to pursue my studies on a brilliant platform with caring faculty members to guide us along the journey.
We have a Google classroom where we can access all the notes, presentations shared by our faculty members. We have Zoom calls for meetings with breakout rooms that invariably lead to amazing discussions. We can connect with our batch mates on Zoom, whatsapp or regular calls. We discuss ideas, play games and have built camaraderie.
It’s one of the main reasons I want to get on the campus as soon as possible. We have students from various states, who bring their own cultures, traditions, view points to the campus. Everyone has their own talents; one is a singer, someone else is into cricket. It is such a stimulating environment and I can’t wait to participate in those thought provoking discussions in person.”