A journey worth sharing

College management can definitely test the patience. There have been bitter-sweet experiences regarding them. But definitely, they can increase their 'helping the students' motto by notch as we often have to run from here to there just to get one work done.

Fergusson turned autonomous as soon as I got admission for my MA. This greatly changed the curriculum and kind of added practical aspects to English (surprisingly). It was relevant and not something which could be just 'crammed and puked' on the paper. We were told to research, present, analyze and introspect everything right from history of literature to modern day aspects of teaching and writing. It was actually quite interesting to study English literatute from a very different perspective. Campus interviews are definitely arranged at college, but considering the current COVID 19 situation, everything has been experiencing a pause. But certainly, our curriculum did help us get an insight into the outside world.

There are opportunities usually. However, this year it has been difficult due to COVID 19.I did attend an interview test for a proof-reading and editing company after my Bachelor's (same college), but they required somebody who was pursuing Masters. Nonetheless, it was a good experience.

Our college fests are an absolute blast. We have departmental fests which are held around December where each department gears up to conduct their own fest like Wordsworth ( English), Psy-fy ( psychology), Wallstreet (Economics), so on and so forth. Fergusson's cultural fest Muktachanda is all the rage in Pune as it invites noteworthy people to interact with the students, and is open to all. The fests are a huge success as people from other colleges are also invited.

The fee structure is quite feasible. However, there are two sections : 'grant' and 'non-grant'. The fee structure varies in these scenarios as mostly non-grant section has a higher fee structure. Also, there are multiple courses provided at college encompassing both bachelor's and master's degree so again this aspect needs to be considered. Overall though, the fee structure can be referred to as feasible.

There are scholarship opportunities available depending upon different criteria. The primary one is the reservation quota where the college waives off a certain percentage of fee for students who have all the authentic documents. These students have to fill a scholarship form affiliated to the local municipal corporation and then move ahead with the fee payment.

The campus is absolutely beautiful. The architectural magnificence can be observed through the colonial style buildings. There are lots of places for students to chill throughout the campus. The library is enormous with a book associated with every subject. Ferguson is a perfect blend of modern with the traditional. We have a strong diversity as there are international students from Iran, Afghanistan, Thailand, etc. Regarding gender ratio, greatly depends on the course, for instance, in our course, [MA (English -2nd year)] there are almost 45 girls as opposed to 15 boys According to me, the tolerance level towards gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation cannot be judged when we talk about the entire campus. But personally, I never felt any discrimination around me, in my course or the department (but again it is like judging a bucket of water from a lake). There have been controversial political issues here certainly, but these have not affected the standard of education we have received. More than often, the general atmosphere of the college is quite peaceful.

Senior students are often helpful in lending us question papers or guiding us through certain difficulties. For instance, I experienced a huge glitch during my admission procedure. The admission in-charge did guide me through, but one of my senior actually comforted me and assisted me in getting the issue solved.

Masters is English is what I have always wanted to do considering I either wanted to go into content writing or teaching English. The procedure for the same was an entrance test which was conducted in May 2018. After which, I qualified and got in as I cleared the exam. Fergusson was always my first priority as it has excellent teaching staff for English, and who would say no to the sprawling campus. Add that to the many good food joints around it(brownie points.) The admission procedure involved confirming my seat, an online procedure, payment and voila. I was in.

Our lecturers were certainly qualified. Their educational degrees were apt as some of them were already doctors and most of them pursuing it. Their knowledge was at par with teaching experience. For the entire English department, there are at least 10 teachers approximately, all of them experts in their own subjects like American English, Indian literature, Post- Colonial English literature, and others.