How I Met My Major

Not everything in life goes as per plans. Infact, hardly anything does. From reading about why plastics are bad, as a 3rd grader to pursuing a major in Environmental Science and Engineering at IIT Bombay, my 21 year old life has definitely come full circle and how!

On a peculiarly bright morning in early June of 2018, the JEE Advanced ranks were announced. A massive four-digit number flashed on my screen and that moment was devastating to me. Not that I wasn't prepared for this outcome, given how terribly I had written my exam but a 50xx was still far from what I had anticipated. My very first concern was, with that humongous rank of mine, will I even get into an IIT? If yes, what kind of an IIT will it be? In that state of awful confusion, anxiety, and worry, which was to stay for weeks to come, I had ice cream with my friends and family that night to celebrate the day. Apparently, I was the only one let down by the results!

Cut to the first mock round of the JoSAAA counseling process. Having spoken to multiple seniors, friends, relatives, and professors, I sat in front of my laptop with the list of preferences neatly drafted in my little diary. Now I don't remember what occurred to me but I felt an urge to go through the entire list of colleges and the courses they offered and that's when I saw Environmental Science and Engineering. At first, I thought it must be a new name for the Energy Science course (a common mistake that instizens continue to make to date). But then I saw Energy too and I was elated! Not only was my dream college offering a course in my field of interest but I was also lucky enough to discover it, absolutely by chance. So without much thought, I put Environment at the top of my preference list and clicked on submit.

With the mocks done and the actual rounds about to commence, I spent my days researching as much as I could about the course. The subjects, the professors, the research areas, and most importantly, career opportunities. I did feel a dearth of information but with my deep-rooted loathing for maths and physics (blame JEE for that) and all other conventional courses (all but Computer Science), Environment seemed like a blessing in disguise for me. More importantly, with all the little knowledge I had about Climate Change and Greta Thunberg and the Paris Climate Agreement and having been that prick of a cousin who'd not touch firecrackers during Diwali and lecture everyone on air pollution instead, I felt a stronger connection to this course. After a counseling period that seemed to drag on for years with a sensational court case on literal decimal points, I was here at IIT Bombay, my dream college, in ESED (or CESE as we would call it back then), an absolute leap of faith.

Cut to three years later, as I sit at home after a rigorous online semester, in front of the same screen my JEE rank had flashed on, I can't help but think of how life has been over the past few years. Getting into a 5-year long commitment with a department that has no seniors and career opportunities that aren't well documented, not to mention, the non-conventional nature of our course work, was certainly a big gamble that I had played. The opportunity cost of doing something rather more conventional, at perhaps, a not-so-famous college and in a not-so-interesting field, is another factor that I occasionally think of. I was definitely clueless the time I chose this course (or vice versa) and I'm clueless still but a tad bit lesser now. The gamble I had played, seems to have been a good bet after all.

My exposure to different streams within the domain of Environmental Science and Engineering (through people, projects, internships, courses, and hundreds of research papers) and the huge potential they hold has certainly made me hopeful about my future but I do realize that the world we live in is far from acknowledging climate change and father from acting on it. As someone who's studying the environment and the possible solutions to some of the most pressing issues surrounding us, I feel empowered and a sense of satisfaction, I perhaps wouldn't have felt elsewhere.

Now, this satisfaction and empowerment would have certainly not sold to a gleamy-eyed 18-year-old who saw IIT Bombay only as a gateway to a 1 Cr package. But perhaps, that's what college does to you - helps you grow and discover your true north!

If you've reached this far, I truly appreciate your time. Through this blog, I plan on writing about sustainability, social impact, climate change and how actors, ranging from governments to markets to individuals, are changing their ways to make the world a better place. Since I'm still learning, I'd love to receive feedback on my work. Check out my bio for my instagram and linkedin. Stay safe!