Smile and Wave: The Subtle Art of Acing the O-Week

Ketaki Mathur, Class of 2020

For those of us on social media, college began before orientation week. All my friends going to Delhi University updated me with happenings of their classes and societies, which left me feeling as if I was behind in life. My daily ritual involved sitting in front of the laptop for an ungodly number of hours. The only novelty was reading the introductions of my accomplished batchmates on Facebook groups, where I’d comment on people’s post when something intrigued me or when we shared a common interest.

Spoiler alert: I never saw those people again. Even if I did, they were so different from their online selves that I struggled to match the two profiles.

The moving-in day passed in a flurry of names, faces, intended majors, and hometowns. It reached the point that interactions became a match-the-following exercise which, more often than not, I ended up getting wrong. The next days could also be named “How I tried to stay out of my roommate’s way and avoided eye contact”. We weren’t sharing our life stories or treating each other to Mausambi juice from Fuel Zone, but at least we agreed to keep the AC off and fan speed on 2.

The common room in the hostel became the ultimate meet-and-greet hub, where the endless cycle of “Hi! What’s your name? Where’re you from? What’s your major?” repeated mercilessly, interspersed with a few games of UNO, mafia, or charades. The days seemed to have more hours than usual, or maybe that was because I was up until 4 AM! The sudden requirement of being social 24×7 after three months of living like a caveman was like coming out into bright sunlight after sitting in a dark hall for a three-hour movie.

Pro Tip: It is recommended to watch a sad movie before sleeping to neutralise the effects of smiling too much, too hard, all day (if you still remember what sleep is, that is).

Orientation week, or Dr Reddy’s Auditorium Week, helped me navigate the academic and student life at Ashoka, which is quite something to take in at first. Workshop after workshop, I battled against the blast cooling of the auditorium AC, the diminishing crowd as well as enthusiasm among students to attend these workshops. I had expected to face peer pressure about drinking or drugs but faced something much more shocking — the pressure to skip a session or two in the auditorium! If you did not detect the heavy sarcasm in that sentence then there are chances you will feel a little lost in college. Students, professors, administrators — though all from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds, are fluent in the language of sarcasm.

Pro Tip: You might want to brush up your meme and pun basics beforehand.

Sitting for introductions to various majors in the academic expos leaves you even more confused of what your major should be (especially if you’re an Economics and Finance major). I was really excited to start my classes right away. Although, my enthusiasm was short lived due to the scarring experience of course registration on the LMS for the first time. It was no less than an academic version of the Hunger Games where, instead of weapons, you needed level-headedness and lightning fast reflexes.

Orientation week started with a comprehensive analysis of what I should wear to college, but it ended with the realisation that it doesn’t matter. Everybody has enough space and flexibility to be themselves. It was okay to wear anything as long as it was comfortable and kept you warm in the blast cooling of the classrooms. I also knew that I would more than survive college, no matter how crazy/hectic/inspiring the atmosphere of Ashoka was. It had already begun to feel like home.

Pro Tip: You’re going to make it! Just be yourself.