A college, that made me who I am

The college is a great place to be. My experience was full of ups and downs because of the challenges I faced but that ultimately helped me grow. The college offered a wide range of facilities and quality life, with a high percentage of competition, which is good, but sometimes it also creates pressure amongst the students. It helped me a lot as I never used to talk before joining college and now, I can speak in public. It was an amazing experience to be a part of KMC and I miss the college already and it's not been a year yet.

The admission procedure was just like that of any other commerce/science student who wants to get admission in BSc. or B.Com. I gave the 12th board exams and filled the common admission form for DU that gets released after CBSE results. In few days, cut-offs were announced and then, I went to the colleges that were within my cut off for admission. colleges depending on my percentage. DU colleges release their cut off percentages so luckily mine fell in the cutoff range and I got direct admission. I opted for BA(Hons) in History and Political Science as it was my cup of tea. DU takes students based on merit so no interview is done and so I did not have to give an interview. As a humanities background student, I loved History and scored the highest marks in Political Science.

History and Political Science honors is a unique course. From archaeology to human behavior, from scientific depths to foreign history, we are taught everything. We even get to study History in sync with Science and technology and understand the importance of studying it together. We were taken to a lot of historic trips to places like National Museum, site research in Aurangabad, some hills (I don't remember the name), and some place in Ahmedabad for research purposes. Elective subjects included English literature, Citizenship in the Globalised world and Hindi to understand other cultural standards which were taught across the college. So practical learning was 10/10.

The college provided internships and some of my friends did work directly with National Museum for 6 months but I wanted some opinionated work so I picked up content writing. I did a content writing internship and submitted work and got paid accordingly. My pay was mostly 1000-2000 per month. I also did some freelance work in the content writing fields for some website.

Content writing, Human Resource companies used to come for placements in my college. The average package offered was 2.5-6 lacs per annum and the students were satisfied. However, they had to give tests, clear interviews and other things which the comapny demanded after clearing the percentage criteria (cut-off) to sit for the placement. It was the work of Avanews cell of KMC which was famous for helping people get placements and settle down.

The fest organized by the Kirori Mal college is Renaissance which is one of the biggest in the whole University. Apart from that, we have Commercial and Technical workshops which happened monthly throughout the year. Renaissance was the best part because it had cash prizes for various events organized which amounted upto Rs. 10000 and had Star Nights too. The technical and managerial workshops gave Rs. 1000-2000 to the students who used to come up as good performers in the workshops.

Delhi University is very affordable and that is one of the main reasons why everyone wants to get in there. DU provides best education at minimum costs and my is a true example for that. My fee was never more 12000/- a year and that according to me is very justified for an undergraduate course.

College provides scholarships on basis of the performance of the student. I never heard of the college helping in getting loans and I think that college cannot help because it is a Government college and they are not permitted to do so.

KMC does take in students based on ECA activities and provides them with ample opportunities to grow. The Music, Debsoc and Sports societies were very active. I was the coordinator of Parivartan-The Gender Forum of KMC and it was a journey that I'd never want to forget. I did join other hubs too but Debsoc and Parivartan were close to my heart because we had rational discussions there. I explored different sides of mine, which I think would not have been possible if I had not been here. I thank the college from the bottom of my heart for its ECA environment.

I am Delhiite so I didn't need hostel. As far as hostel rooms are considered, my friends told me that the rooms are in good condition and one really needs to work hard to maintain the cleanliness of the room otherwise it can become a mess very soon. I didn't hear of any single seater room so I assume, all rooms are double-triple seater. There are many PGs around the college and those who cannot get hostels, live there. Quality of food and room varies as per the PG. I didn't have any PG staying friend so no more details about it. I heard from my friends that food is hygienic and taste varies. We never discussed the hostel fee so I have no clue about it.

KMC has had alumni like KK, Shakti Kapoor and Ali Abbas Zafar to name a few from the long list and it feels great to study from in the same college. My interaction with my seniors is still on even after I have graduated and it feels like they are not seniors anymore, they are my family. Now that I myself have become an alumnus, it is another feeling. My juniors love me and I love them and help them in every possible way. I think, seniors do shape the college's development because they indirectly guide students on what path to choose and what not too.

Exams were actually a chill culture. We used to roam around and discuss the topics and wars we were taught and deliberate on the same. Debates of famous historians, policies of the government and other political science aspects were just discussed and we gave the exam. There was no cramming and absolute opinions.

The faculty is commendable. Their intensity of knowledge, regular interactions and guidance is remarkable. I was lucky to have Ph.D scholar-teachers like Shahana Bhattacharya madam who taught me. Sundaram Shukla ma'am was my favourite. Being taught by such faculty was an amazing experience and thus, the three years were of unique in a special way.