Mystory@Ashish Pradhan: How I chose my course and college

When I was in school, I just had no clue about which course to choose. Towards the starting of Class 10, I gradually found that I have an interest for construction work. I was very much interested in designing buildings, planning towns or cities and doing random exterior and interior designs. So as only a science background student can take Civil Engineering as a career option, I decided to take Science after completing my Class 10 level studies with ICSE Board. I preferred Civil Engineering over other branches as it is one of the oldest and one of the core branches of engineering.

Actually, I wanted to complete my BTech degree at CET, Bhubaneswar. But my JEE Mains rank did not get me a BTech Civil seat in that college. So I decided to do my bachelor’s degree at Ajay Binay Institute of Technology (ABIT), Cuttack, Odisha as it is the only engineering degree college in my hometown i.e. Cuttack. Faculty of Civil Engineering at ABIT is one of the best in class faculty. Placement history for Civil Engineering branch is also good. Students have been placed successfully in construction companies like Simplex, Ultratech, L&T Constructions, etc.

How I cracked BTech admission

I appeared for JEE Main Paper 1 and Paper 2. In both the papers, I secured qualifying All India Rank. My JEE Main rank made me eligible for admission in my current college.

For JEE preparation, I was just following the regular text books and other multiple choice logical question books. I was also taking coaching at local coaching institutes.

The college I was trying for included CET, Bhubaneswar, SCT, Bhopal and Institute of Transportation and Civil Engineering, Ahmedabad.

My college experience

I mainly utilise my time at college, even when classes get suspended I spend my time at library to make notes. If you ask which class I like to attend the most then I would surely say that as a civil engineering student Survey, drawing and drafting is my favourite class.

Seminars are held weekly and workshops are held monthly in our college, which forms a part of extra-curricular activities. Apart from this, pre-placement training is also done to enhance confidence of students. We also have a number of clubs for extra-curricular activities like Debating Club, Entrepreneurship development cell, Robotics, Fashion club, etc. I am a part of Robotics Club in my college.  

If given a chance I would like to open a Project Designing club because with the help of this club we will be able to display the projects designed by us to the senior members of different boards so that we can work towards inventing some innovative designs.

After joining this college many things have changed. Now I am more confident as a person and my level of subject matter understanding has increased. In short after joining this college, I have learned to tackle a lot of things.

About the Author:

Currently, I am pursuing my BTech in Civil Engineering at ABIT, Cuttack. I am the CR (Class Representative)/ coordinator of my class. Recently, I got the first prize in a Bridge Design Workshop, organised at our college with the help of ROBOKART, IIT Bombay. In leisure time I like to do painting/sketching or designing the exterior of buildings or designing the plan of a house. I would like to do M.Arch (Masters Degree in Architecture) after completing my BTech degree in Civil Engineering.