Morning broke early on Aaryan Verma.
He woke to the dim light penetrating the thin curtains of Room 304 and the gentle hum of life stirring outside. In the adjacent bed, Manish was fast asleep, snoring softly. Aaryan grinned, sitting up and wiping sleep from his eyes. Today was the official orientation — the first concrete step into college life.
He got dressed in a hurry: a plain pair of jeans, a fresh shirt, and sneakers. As he departed the room, he glanced into the broken mirror beside the door — a messy-haired young man, nervous smile, and wide, hoping eyes.
Overnight, the campus had changed.
Welcome Freshers!" banners waved between lampposts. Volunteers in yellow T-shirts led the students to the main auditorium. Laughter, chatter, and enthusiasm hung in the atmosphere.
Aaryan blended with the crowd of students, like a small drop in a huge river.
The auditorium was huge — bigger than any hall he had ever been in. Seats row upon row went up toward the ceiling, and the stage was decorated with bright lights and a backdrop that proudly displayed the college's name.
Aaryan spotted an empty seat toward the center. Next to him, a ponytailed girl was scrolling through her phone. On his other side, two boys were already joking about how many years it would take them to graduate.
He smiled to himself. It felt good, somehow, to be part of this.
A few minutes later, the orientation started.
The Dean of Students, a tall, serious-looking man with glasses low on his nose, stepped onto the stage.
"Welcome to Bangalore Institute of Technology!" he thundered, his voice ringing out across the hall. "Today is the start of a new chapter in your lives — a chapter of learning, of discovery, of friendships that will last a lifetime."
The speech continued, switching between motivational and soporific. Aaryan listened respectfully, hearing only half of it. His thoughts drifted, wondering what was to come: the classes, the projects, the all-nighters, the adventures yet unknown.
Following the speeches, they were sorted into small groups according to their departments. Aaryan trailed behind the Mechanical Engineering group out onto the lawn, where a handful of seniors stood waiting to lead them.
"Okay, freshmen," one of the seniors, a lanky fellow with a wicked smile, shouted. "I'm Rohan. Second-year Mech. No ragging today, don't worry. Maybe later, though!"
There was a nervous laugh from the crowd.
Rohan took them on a tour of the campus, showing them significant buildings: the library (gigantic and old), the workshop block (with a faint smell of oil and metal), the cafeteria (already alive with activity), and the department office (where you hoped you never had to go).
During the tour, Aaryan made small talk with a few fellow freshers. He met **Ravi**, who was from Mysore and obsessed with cars; **Sameer**, who confessed he had no idea why he chose Mechanical Engineering; and **Nikita**, the girl with the ponytail, who turned out to be from Mumbai and had a quick, sarcastic sense of humor.
The hours flew by.
By the time they were through, Aaryan's legs ached from all the walking, but his head reeled with new impressions.
Over lunch at the cafeteria — a cheap but delicious meal of rice, curry, and a suspicious-looking samosa — he had his first real class.
Introduction to Engineering.
The professor, Dr. Krishnan, was a gaunt elderly man with keen eyes who took the measure of the students at one glance.
"Leave aside whatever you already believe you know," he intoned, scratching out the word *Reality* on the blackboard. "Here, you will learn how to think and not what to think."
Aaryan welcomed him from the first moment.
The lesson had been more like a discussion class, and despite Aaryan being too quiet to raise any questions, he listened carefully. He could feel something changing in him — the smallest flicker of excitement.
Perhaps, just perhaps, he did have a place here after all.
When eventually the day reached its end, the sun had been setting again, coloring the sky in vivid hues of gold and orange.
He came back to the dorm, tired but curiously elated.
Manish was lying on his bed, headphones on, typing away at his phone.
"How was it?" he asked when he saw Aaryan.
"Pretty awesome, actually," Aaryan replied, flopping into his chair with a sigh. "Exhausting. But worth it."
"Same here, dude. We made it through day one!" Manish grinned.
Outside, the campus lights came on one by one.
Aaryan sat back in his chair, the fatigue creeping into his bones.
This was only the start.
He could sense it — a slow-burning determination rising up within him.
He would not merely get through college.
He would excel.
No matter what it cost.