College story: "Was I really, smart among the smartest in the college hostel?"

College story: "Was I really, smart among the smartest in the college hostel?"

In 2003, I joined COEP Technological University and quickly felt like home as it fulfilled my childhood dream of studying Engineering. The college was literally my home as I resided in hostel. Everything seemed perfect - I was studying my favorite course, living in hostel, enjoying good food in hostel canteen, and surrounded by like minded batchmates. 

I often posed challenging questions to professors and began to feel that I was smarter than even the smartest of my peers. 

Out of the 500 students, 300 were hashtag#hostel residents. After lectures, most students could be seen walking back to the hostel, a short 10-minute walk from the college. 

One day, while returning with a male friend, we noticed an attractive female batchmate, out of our league, (although she was from a different department, we knew everything about her) walking ahead of us. In a light-hearted moment, my friend suggested we should strike up a conversation with her since she is walking alone. Accepting this challenge, I pulled out my Graphics book and told him to debate with me loudly while referring to the book. I then asked the girl, "Hey XX, my friend and I are debating if the front view of this part looks like this, then wouldn't sectional view look like that?" She responded with her thoughts, and I turned to my friend, triumphantly declaring, "See, I told you, I was right"

I then thanked the girl. She gave me a long, knowing look, followed by a smile that seemed to say, "I see what you did there." 

That day, I came to a realization, I wasn't the smarted person in the college after all!