‘The biggest recognition here had nothing to do with my marks’ | Life in an IIT

On September 19, 2026, at IIT Roorkee’s 26th Convocation, I received the President of India Dr Shankar Dayal Sharma Gold Medal. The award is given for outstanding social service, character and conduct outside the classroom. It had nothing to do with my CGPA, my rank, or the branch I studied. It was about the kind of person I had tried to be over four years, in the hostel corridors, on the sports court, in the clubs I gave my time to, and in the relationships I built along the way.

Looking back, I think that is the truest summary of what an IIT education gave me. Not just engineering. Not just a degree. A space to figure out who I was outside of academics, and to be recognised for it.

I am a 22-year-old from Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, and I graduated from the Mechanical Engineering department at IIT Roorkee in 2026. This is that story.

Growing up in Ghaziabad

I was born and brought up in Ghaziabad and did my schooling at Delhi Public School, Ghaziabad, Meerut Road, under the CBSE board. My father, Vineet Jain, runs a business in PVC and agricultural pipes, and my mother, Rachna Jain, is a homemaker. They have been my steadiest source of support at every stage of this journey.

School shaped more of who I became than I realised at the time. I was Vice Sports Captain in Class 10. In Class 12, I received a silver plate for being a scholar for seven consecutive years. Looking back, those two things together — the sports leadership and the sustained academic consistency were perhaps early signals of the kind of student I would try to be at IIT as well.

What I miss most about home is the comfort of it. The familiar places, the local food, and the people I have grown up alongside. No campus, however beautiful, fully replaces that.

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Getting to IIT

I appeared for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main and JEE Advanced in 2022. I prepared through FIITJEE coaching alongside extensive self-study, coaching gave me structure and regular practice, while self-study helped me understand where my gaps actually were. Balancing both with Class 12 board examinations required planning and consistency, but I managed through routine.

My rank was 9756. What drew me to Mechanical Engineering was a genuine interest in mechanics and physics, the way things are designed, built, and made to work. My family also encouraged the branch, and the more I learned about it, the more the combination of design, manufacturing, and applied problem-solving appealed to me. I filled other branches during Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JoSAA) counselling too, but Mechanical at IIT Roorkee felt like the right fit.

First time away from home

I joined IIT Roorkee in 2022. It was among my first experiences of living independently, away from family. The beginning was new in the way that first experiences tend to be, slightly overwhelming, but also quietly exciting. Making friends early made the difference. The people around me became a support system before I had fully registered it happening, and gradually the campus started feeling like a second home.

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The food and hostel life took some adjustment. What made it easier was the environment; the campus is beautiful in a way that takes your breath away quietly, and even just walking around it on an ordinary evening was enough to feel settled.

What I gave my time to

I was actively involved in IIT Roorkee Motorsports, the Society of Business, and E-Cell. I served as technical secretary of Himalaya Bhawan and co-convened Srishti, a campus technology event. I also participated in sports, the Esummit, and InterBhawan competitions across campus.

Managing these alongside academics was challenging at times, but it was also the most important education I received at IIT. Not the clubs themselves, but what they asked of me: to prioritise, to stay organised, to give complete attention to whatever was in front of me. That quality of focus, being fully present in one thing rather than partially present in several, is what improved everything else, including my academics.

I enjoy basketball and badminton, and sports were a consistent anchor through four years. A break from coursework, a way to stay active, and some of the simplest and best times I spent with friends.

On teachers

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The faculty at IIT Roorkee are deeply knowledgeable, and what I appreciated most was how approachable they were. Professor Nitish Arya, under whom I completed my BTech project, gave us practical and industry-relevant insights that went well beyond the project itself. He was also a source of significant support and guidance during placement season, which I am genuinely grateful for.

What I found across most professors was a willingness to engage with students beyond the academic transaction, to guide, to share perspective, and to take an interest in where you were headed.

Getting to know Roorkee, slowly

Roorkee is not a city that announces itself. It is calm and relatively quiet, smaller than most places IIT students come from, and it takes time to appreciate. What I came to love about it was precisely that pace, the slower rhythm of the place, the greenery of the campus, the sense of a close community that forms when a campus is the centre of a town rather than just a part of a city.

By the end of four years, walking through the campus felt less like walking through an institution and more like moving through a place that belonged to me, and to which I belonged.

What IIT recognised, in the end

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The President’s Gold Medal is for character and conduct outside the classroom. When I think about what that means in practice, it comes back to the accumulation of things that did not feel significant while they were happening: showing up for the hostel’s responsibilities, giving real time to the clubs and events I was part of, staying in the room with a friend who needed company, approaching each day with the intention to contribute something.

I never followed a very rigid routine. I planned around what needed to happen and made time for the people and activities that mattered. In hindsight, that flexibility, staying open rather than fixed, may have been the thing that allowed me to grow in ways a strict schedule would not have permitted.

I always believed that there is something new to learn from every person and every experience around you. IIT gave me four years of proof. The gold medal, I think, was simply the last reminder.

Looking ahead

After graduating, I joined Meesho as a Senior Associate in a business and product-related role. I want to keep working on problems that make e-commerce more accessible and useful for people across the country; that feels like meaningful work.

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Looking back at four years at IIT Roorkee, what I find is not one defining moment but a texture of accumulated experience: academics, friendships, clubs, sports, leadership, small responsibilities taken seriously and carried through. No single event stands out as the thing that made me who I am now. It was all of it together.

And then, on one September morning, the institute handed me a gold medal to say it had noticed.