First Time in Sophia

I’m a First Year in Sophia College for Women and have the good fortune to be a part of the 75^th or Platinum Jubilee Batch.

So, I’ve been in a co-ed institution all my life and like a typical product of a co-ed school, I had a not-so-good opinion about an all-gender institution.
And wow, did Sophia correct my idiocy.

On my first day, I was very timid because it was a new crowd and I’d been in the city for only 3 months. I had no idea what to expect or how to approach someone or how to initiate a conversation. Another issue was that I couldn’t locate the room to ACTUALLY get to the students and I’d arrived an hour early before the FYBMM classes began.  I roamed all the floors of the Annex to finally reach Room 31 and luckily, some girls came an hour early like me. We introduced ourselves with a simple hi-hello and my-name-is-so-and-so. Of course, there was a certain amount of awkwardness in the air that day but we overcame it by talking about where each one is from and what they expect on the first day. We sat in the class that day, about 6-7 of us who came an hour early and about  10 minutes to go before the first period, the class was full of a bunch of laughter and new friendships.

The classes went on smoothly and did the work of introducing each of us to the other when the teachers asked us to talk about ourselves. We went to the canteen to fill our empty and anxious stomachs and were greeted by huge crowds and about 15 minutes till the next class so, most of us settled with drinking ice tea or cold coffee from the coffeewala. Throughout the day, our seniors came to our classes and spoke to us; told us the do’s and don’t’s of BMM and told us that we can approach them with any problem.

The days that followed were (still are) spent becoming friends, getting to know one another and exploring the pink walls of Sophia.

It’s been a month now, since I’ve had a chance to call the strong, pink walls my home. I am still shy but I know, for sure, that Sophia will turn that around and I can’t wait for it.

Here’s to Sophia!

Apoorva Menon
FYBMM 2017