On April 4th, I had my last breakfast at the RSET canteen, the air heavy with nostalgia. No longer would we brave long queues for crispy dosas or sprint to class before the 8:30 bell, dodging the principal’s watchful eye. The frenetic rush, once a burden, now felt like the pulse of our youth—vibrant, fleeting, and irreplaceable. Gone were the days of Frizzticks icecreams, watermelon juice from the Garden Café, Maggi from The Woods and sheepish smiles offered to teachers who would spend sleepless nights grading our sparse answer sheets. That morning, we savored not just the food but the memories woven into every corner of that lively, imperfect canteen.  

My journey at Rajagiri School of Engineering and Technology (RSET) began on November 14, 2021, with Deeksharambham, a ceremonial welcome that marked my leap into a new world. Arriving in Kochi—a new city, a new state that I traded the familiar confines of my hometown for a sense of freedom. To my parents, it was a leap tinged with worry and to me, it was an adventure inspired by their own college tales. Meeting my roommates felt like an arranged marriage, filled with fears of incompatibility. We were smuggled into rooms based on roll numbers, often being swapped with people with the same names.  Would I find the need to hide my true self? By day four, those fears dissolved. They were just like me—young, curious,equally scared and yet eager to connect . As an only child, I found in them the siblings I never had. We crafted dance reels, vented frustrations, and learned each other’s quirks—not out of obligation, but out of love. Blood, I discovered, was not thicker than the bonds we made.  

RSET gave me the chance to rekindle my passion for table tennis. I had pushed it aside for board exams and entrance exams. Ranabhoomi was our sports fest and at the end it had exciting matches, along with college-sponsored trips to play other cities. Every game was an immense delight for me and I got to meet different students from other colleges and truly appreciated the initiative. The table tennis team stole my heart and I enjoyed all the friendships that I made across branches and batches. The team’s dedication and involvement with sports—open gyms, sprawling parks and tireless support—taught me not to sacrifice passion for academics. Here I could make an impact as an athlete and a student. 

Since the beginning, RSET has certainly changed a bit. New canteens moved in and served the good old ‘RSET Biryani’, plus the arrival of the ‘Ghee Roast’ sorted out our breakfast worries. A parking lot emerged, uniforms swapped colors, vibrant graffiti adorned the walls and vending machines hummed with convenience. I watched the first-years find their way on this very different campus, doing their little “firsts”, and I finally got to make the same old “Back in my day” jokes with them. RSET kept growing, it had lots of surprises and also a lot of disruption. 

Our classes were a mosaic of challenges and revelations. One subject, often from the humanities department, always stood out, offering fresh perspectives and intellectual freedom. These courses stretched our minds beyond engineering, inviting us to grapple with global issues. Our engineering professors, once figures of fear, revealed their warmth over time. We grew to see them as guides, not taskmasters, dedicated to our growth. On the Chavara Hall stage, we shone during events for Pravaaha, RSET’s very own dance club, inauguration ceremonies, and Bharatham, transforming nerves into moments of pride. 

Lab practicals were a rite of passage, where students, seated reluctantly in roll-number order, faced the daunting task of wrestling with code or untangling circuit wirings. The air was thick with tension as we grappled with syntax errors or hunted for that one elusive connection in a breadboard’s maze. A shared sigh of relief when a program ran or a circuit lit up bonded us, turning roll-number neighbors into allies. 

Bharatham, our cultural fest, was the heartbeat of March. It was a month of magic, where studies took a backseat to a cinematic college life we had dreamed of. The fest united us—juniors, seniors, even teachers—showcasing talents that flourished in its embrace. As a junior, I was discovered by seniors who nurtured my skills, and as a senior, I got to mentor new talents. Bharatham gave us a chance to celebrate us. 

Techkshetra and Abhiyanthriki were our  testing grounds against the world—on what kind of technology we were capable of (depending on the show). Setting out to become high-tech coders under intense pressure for a 24-hour hackathon, we brainstormed thoughts and coded from scratch. We debugged, refactored, and made prototypes with the pressure. Techkshetra gave us the tools to unleash our creativity through workshops and competitions and Abhiyanthriki made us push further into the technological sphere. The best part of the fests was that these couldn’t just be the games—they were also just about creating friendships along with others who shared our love for tech. 

RSET honed our presentation skills and teamwork through assignments, seminars, and mini and major projects. Especially for CSBS, seminars were adventures in creativity—musicals, advertisements, business proposals, and product pitches. These tasks brought our class together, turning classmates into collaborators. I relished the moments of shared embarrassment on stage, whether for a shaky presentation or a playful punishment. Each project revealed the unique strengths of my teammates—coordinators, ideators, speakers, operators—all vital to our success. Conferences in air-conditioned halls were a coveted escape from Kochi’s heat, though securing seats—and duty leaves—was a sport in itself. 

As we grew older, afternoon naps became a guilty pleasure, with teachers quietly acknowledging our droopy eyes. Lectures, once daunting, became spaces for creativity. Some of us discovered books, others etched art on desks. Podcasts and poetry bloomed in the margins of our notebooks. These engineering lullabies, as we called them, were less about equations and more about finding ourselves. 

Just as class trips made our class a family, Industrial visits brought out the glimpses of our future professional lives, on the tour to Goa we got to be who we are and who we want to be. Singing, dancing and laughing on the beach turned us from just classmates to friends for life. These destinations remain in our heart and anyone would definitely miss that uncontrollable fun. 

At RSET, we had departments that host clubs. They were a beautiful synopsis of chaos juxtaposed with ingenuity. Whether it be GenSys Events or Media Club shoots, it was in these clubs that we could organize, innovate and shine.  Here, intelligence often grew out of the messiest moments. 

As I look back over my years at RSET, there weave together like a tapestry of moments—loud, tender, transformative. From the nervous excitement of Deeksharambham, to the bittersweet farewell at Samavarthanam, RSET was more than a college; it was a home where I found my passions, my people, and myself. The canteen queues, the Bharatham stages, the table tennis courts—they shaped me in ways I’ll forever cherish. As I step into the world beyond, I carry the warmth of these memories, the strength of these friendships, and the courage to embrace every new beginning with the same youthful energy that defined my RSET days.