Somewhere Between “Just Started” and “Wait, It’s Almost Over”

There’s a very specific kind of confusion that hits when you’re a third-year engineering student inching toward fourth year.

You’re not a fresher anymore. You don’t get lost looking for classrooms or get confused between AC-1 and AC-2. You’ve stopped asking “what is this subject even about?” (alteast most of the time). You’ve survived enough exams, submissions, and breakdowns to know that you’ll probably survive the next one too.

But at the same time, you’re not quite “placed, sorted, and settled” either.

You’re in this weird in-between phase.

You start realizing things you didn’t in the first year. Like how no one really has it all figured out. Like how CGPA matters but skills matter more. Like how that one random thing you tried out of curiosity might actually turn into something real.

You open LinkedIn more often now. Not for scrolling, but for mild panic. Everyone seems to be doing something, internships, projects, startups, certifications and you’re just sitting there thinking, “Okay, I should probably do something too.”

And you do. Slowly.

You try things. Some stick, most don’t. You start a course, leave it halfway, pick up another only to leave it halfway as well. You build something small, break it, fix it, feel weirdly proud. You begin to understand that learning isn’t a straight line. It’s more like opening 27 tabs at 3 AM and hoping at least 3 make sense.

Group projects are different now. You care a little more. Not just about grades, but about actually knowing what you’re doing. Because suddenly, “this might be useful later” doesn’t feel like a joke anymore.

There’s also this quiet shift from studying to figuring things out. You’re no longer just preparing for exams, you’re preparing for whatever comes next.

And that’s the scary part. But also the exciting part.

Because somewhere between all the confusion, procrastination, random bursts of motivation, and late-night “I need to fix my life” moments, you start to realise that you are actually growing.

Not perfectly. Not consistently. But definitely, undeniably, growing. And maybe that’s what the end of third year really feels like. Not the last step before you complete your degree. Just the moment you finally start taking it seriously (in your own slightly chaotic way). And to me, that’s where learning starts.

by Nehal Jaswal , Btech 2023 batch