New phase and I'm loving it

I really like the college atmosphere. I miss home sometimes so I go home once a month. But overall, I know I will miss this place once I graduate. Living the best years of my life. The hostel time fun is what I love the most and exam time also passes swiftly. All in all, the serene environment of Bathinda along with the college experience has made my life heaven like and I'm loving it.

NCHMCT JEE( National Council for Hotel Management & Catering Technology Joint Entrance Examination) is the exam, one has to give to get admission in any IHM college in India. I too give that exam after my board's exam and got a rank of 12500 something. I followed the registration process given on their website and prepared my DD and other documents too. Finally, I got IHM Bathinda in my third round of counseling and I reported here in July to finally take the admission here. There was no interview process and I got admission only on the basis of my rank. I chose this course because always I was fed up with studies and wanted to pursue something not related to books. I had even heard of this course from one of my relatives, so I took up this course.

The course isn't difficult. All the subjects we are being taught, are related to food. Like food analysis, cooking techniques, bakery etc. Every subject has a lab in which we do things practically so that's a plus point. I don't have an idea if they carry some research as I am in first year. Also, right now all subjects are core but from next semester we'll have electives too.

Once this academic year ends, I would be doing an internship. Since ours is a hotel management college, internships are mostly with some good hotels and college provides internship drives too where students get recruited for the same. It is mostly paid but sometimes there is no stipend involved. In any case, it provides good learning experience and exposure. My seniors were recruited for the internships in various fields like in the front office, in the kitchen and they enjoyed their time there.

The placements of our college are really good. Everyone gets placed easily. Ours is a government college so it has a really good reputation in the industry. Students are prepared for the interview and get placed in good hotels like The Lalit, Eros etc. College authorities play a big role in this as they provide students with personality development and aptitude classes. I don't know about the average package as interviews are still going on.

Like any other college, we have a lot of events like Freshers Party, Dance night, theme party etc. Everyone participates in them and our seniors organize it for us. We love being a part of it because we have something to do other than studies. The average footfall is only the college students as there are no other colleges close to ours. I do not know much about the college authorities contribution but I think they do contribute because I have seen them enjoying during the fests.

The fees is 1.15 lac per annum. It isn't very affordable for me as I don't come from a very good background and is too much for a government college, but they provide us with good facilities. Kitchen, laundry etc are included so I don't complain about it. But still, it burns a hole in my pocket. For other students, who come from good family background, it is very affordable for them. This fee includes my hostel fee too.

The college provides scholarship to students if they give a scholarship test. I gave it too but could not get enough scholarship. Since its a government college, there is no official tie up for the loans with any banks so if any student wants to avail the loan, he/she has to find the bank himself/herself.

Dance, music, art and craft are some activities which we can do except for cooking. Cooking is our core and also an extra-curricular. Students can go in whatever they like to do. I am a part of the dance troupe as I love to dance, but there are a lot of other options available too.

I am a hosteller. There are rooms of 2/3 students staying together. Initially everyone gets a triple sharing room in first year but afterwards, we can take a double sharing room. The facilities are okayish but the washrooms and the entire hostel is very clean. The environment is good as everyone helps each other during exams and we have a lot of fun together too.

The college alumni network base is very strong. There is a large database which keeps records of the alumni. The college even invites some established alumni's for sessions and recruitments if they are in good positions. I have never personally talked to any alumni but my seniors have.

It is a chill culture to be honest. Exams are a one day affair as our subjects are easy and we can complete the syllabus on the night of the exam. The labs make us tired as we have almost one lab in every two days. I gave an exam in September and next exams are scheduled to be in December. We do get a day's gap in between every two exams so ample time to do revisions.

I like the teachers. They have a very practical approach and make complex things look easy. Its a notion that teachers in government college are laid back and not good, but it is not the case with our college. We have a superb faculty which clears all our concepts and is always ready to help. These are the only people who are making the first year go smooth.They are quite interactive and their way of the communication is what I like the most. For example, we have students from different states of India in our country, so those who cannot understand hindi, our teachers explain them in English and those who are not so good in understanding English, our teachers explain them in Hindi.