In pursuit of unordinary
Joining NCS was paramount to me. Being an EE student, I missed out on my love for code & computers. Wasn't good enough with coding so I aimed for web or design; attended each workshop. With Photoshop I found liberation of my ideas & imagination, chose that. Made it in NCS. Labs after classes were always rejuvenating, so I attended every day. Designing came next - the creative process that turns ideas into tangible products. Day one, a senior comes up with an idea & asks for its interface. I sweat, I struggle, I get it done, liberation. The process kept on giving.
People come first
College fest arrives with a lot of work and some opportunity for fun. Pulled many all-nighters collaborating with the team at the hostel, made friends with them. Motivation came easy when the other one was not your competition, but a companion. Labs became more engaging with friends all around. Realised what I'd been missing on - became more collaborative, helped others with everything I could, got more in return. Had some clashes, solved it with mutual understanding. Communication is key. Leveraged the power of the team to make elaborately guided decisions at every step. Massive learning.
An abrupt transition
Time sets in, I'm a senior now (apparently). Sharing became the crux of this next stage. I'll evangelize everything I've learnt and helped anyone that joins in. Frantic searching among the new crowd, found some gems and onboarded them. Explicitly shared all I know, bouncing ideas and providing feedback every time. Received submissions - still different from what I envisioned, disappointment struck in, annoyance next. What was so hard to figure out? Realised this too late - they had their own aesthetics, understandably different from mine; I just had to be more absorbent. Capitalised on that later, assigned tasks, let them bloom and voila! Got some magnetising results, glorious af. The friction dissipated and the relationship came front & centre. No pressure.
The drama of it all
Embraced whatever came to me, few times repulsively. Meetings, parties, trips (every kind :P), needless convolutions, workshops, taking interviews, telltales, overnight discussions, power dynamics and much more. An awful lot goes on when you're involved deeply, which I was. I faced some hard truths, achieved some unbelievable milestones, saw my batch mates at their worst, found support in the unexpected and dealt it all with empathy. Absorbed it all and gathered principles that will guide my moral compass for years fo come. Fuck it, I even learned politics and the essence of democracy by practicing it internally; seriously. Wicked shit.
Breathe in, breathe out
There is a sense of satisfaction to have a crowd to be with when you're not certain about yourself. You're walking alone from the hostel and then you enter this lab full of welcoming people. The nods, the handshakes, sometimes a hug and then you sit down. You're you when you have that; zen mode. The experience pulls you in. The conversations set the right tone. The people help you settle down. I came to Nibble for an escape and I found much more. I'll miss this.