I (Aradhana) welcome you to the counselling program of the Computer Science and Engineering department.
‘ A beautiful reality of life is, everything is momentary and nothing can give us stress and emotional pain, if we do not attach our happiness to temporary things. These temporary things may be a person’s present behaviour or an achievement in our life. Everything we see is subject to change, otherwise, a green leaf on a tree would have stayed green forever or if we like the particular quality of a person that person will never change but everything changes. The same way we need to accept that, the happy/sad moments and behaviour of people we know will change and attaching our expectations to the current state of things or of imaginary pictures will disappoint us. Happiness is when we do not attach ourselves to things that are temporary in nature. Remember that only change is permanent, nothing else is ’.
Lots of people have the misconception that only a high IQ contributes to very good academic success achievements, but other factors like socioeconomic status, motivation, peer relationship, teacher-student relationship, parental involvement, personality type, Emotional Intelligence (understanding self-emotions and others), confidence level and managing stress are also important and contribute more than only IQ.
It has been observed that, sometimes students are unable to analyse that they are depressed and they are struggling with their state of mind continuously for months. That makes things more complicated. So, if you are not feeling well, please communicate about issues irrespective of whether it is physical or mental.
The most important initiative that has been taken up in the CSE department is the senior-junior interaction for academic help. For mentor’s help (Ph.D., M.Tech. and M.S. students who can guide in some areas pertaining to UG courses), UG students can come and tell about the subject in which they require help. PG students can also interact with their seniors. I can suggest the names of the mentors according to their time of availability and in which course they can help.
For clinical help like bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, depression anxiety, and OCD, we have psychiatrists visiting the campus. You can approach me and I will guide you on whether psychiatrist help is needed or not. I can provide counselling sessions as treatment of psychological disorders need counselling sessions along with medication.
Students are facing issues like internet addiction, drugs and alcohol addiction. They hesitate to interact. But they should discuss with me and can go to the de-addiction clinic in the health centre of IIT Kanpur. Students can meet any counsellor in Institute. Students can share any type of problems they and their friends are facing. They can provide the names of other students who are depressed. So, the counsellor can take the necessary steps to solve their problems and suggest remedial actions that will help them to perform well in academics.
Everyone is participating in this program; faculty members are suggesting names of students who are facing issues. Post Graduate students are helping UG in courses, I am taking sessions and serving as the contact point for connecting to the right source. UG students can meet the counsellor for notes and study material of subjects. She can suggest the names of students from whom they can take help. For placement related discussions also you can come to discuss things like Time Management, I can connect you with your seniors (Students) who got jobs through campus placement.
There are two important points that you should consider:
(i) if you do not need any help, you can help the counsellor by telling the names of students who need help, and
(ii) it is not compulsory that you should meet only the department's counsellor, but you can meet any counsellor in the campus. At the least, you should inform the department counsellor about your issues and with whom you are connected, so that she knows that at least you are taking the necessary steps to improve your current situation.
Any suggestion is welcome. If you have any comments or suggestions on new initiatives, please communicate them to Aradhana, so that we can try to implement those and improve the department's counselling program.
Note: Sometimes students are hesitant to approach the counsellor owing to their introverted nature. During meetings, they hesitate to share their issues. Please note that your case and issues are confidential and will be known to the counsellor only. Your identity will be completely kept anonymous. So, please do not hesitate and meet the counsellor.
Please write an email to the counsellor so that she can give you a meeting time (in case of a long meeting); otherwise, you can come any time during the counsellor’s office hours for a short meeting. You can call the counsellor any time or send her a WhatsApp message.
Aradhana Yadav
Email: aradhana@cse.iitk.ac.in
Office: KD-218 (CSE Department)
Office No.: 0512-2596807
Mobile: 9695126885 / 8542828558
Meeting Time: 10:00 A.M. to 7:30 P.M.
Website: https://web.cse.iitk.ac.in/users/aradhana/