On Campus Coefficient The Snake

“Everyone is a snake here” said Amina, rolling her eyes and folding her arms. We were standing outside a department’s cafeteria-printing shop at a famous engineering campus in Islamabad known for its 400th ranking in world universities. I was observing students chatting up, unwrapping their shawarma, dipping tea bags in their cups and waiting for their handout notes to be printed when Amina said this and I made this frowning look at her “snakes?”. “Yeah snakes' ', she affirmatively reiterated. Her explanation ahead went something like this: “ye log na azka, tangein kheynchtay hain aik doosray ke'' ( translation: ). By trying to make sense of Amina’s words about some of her colleagues, I gathered that she expected people to be friends, honest, loving and caring- like when things were back when we were in school or college. It’s as if everyone in university expects the same structure of clean hearts and curious minds: friends who share lunch boxes, friends who whisper in the library, friends who play with you in the football ground, friends who help you with homework and friends who share their ghost stories with you. 

The fact is, half of Pakistani students were in school before universities. They were busy learning, reading, getting disciplined, getting to do homework, standing in morning assemblies and going back home and repeating the routines and rituals. What Amina was referring to, is the false expectations of a naïve student thrown out in the real world where no one is disciplining you to stick to norms, uniforms, regulations, black ties, nails clipped black ponies or white socks...Infact, the university is saying, “you are free, you don’t have to follow a time table, you don’t need a ringing bell to tell you when is it time for class, when are you off to go. University life tells you to figure this out yourself. You are free. You came here by free will. You act here on free will.” In that new found freedom, the university student is cheerful, excited and confused. There are no rules- just attending classes and going back to your life. The temporal spaces in between are for him/her to decide how to treat them and also their colleagues. Some are occupied with assignments and group tasks albeit that comes with its own hindrances of not trusting the other emotionally or academically. Others are occupied with enjoying their time alone or partying depending on their priority. These students are in institution but they are not tied down- they have to work, yet they don’t carry the same consequences – remember, their parents will not be called for their misbehavior or the fact that they are getting low grades or taking no interest in studies or being mean to their classmates for no reason (and most certainly, they will not be called out for being snakes). This is the open field, you compete for grades, recognition in front of the lecturer or simply to pass time till you graduate.

People who say that in university there are snakes, clearly were expecting koala bears. This is where real life lessons begin. Why do you think this person will help you? Why do you think he will not betray you? What’s in it for him? What is in it for you? What are you looking for? What is he looking for? There is an English idiom: “I don’t know him from Adam'' replace that with “I don’t know him from school”. In university you know this person only because he wants the same degree. Think about it. S/he is in the same field, will try for the same internships and jobs and want to come out looking good after giving the same acting-presentation you were aiming for. Seeing things realistically, there is a slim chance that the other person will be your heart-warming-helping-you-at-your-every-move-friend rather s/he will be a competitor. If a person refers to these competitors as people who are nasty-backstabbing-selfish-snakes, then pragmatically assess: these snakes are doing their job by competing with the students in this university to get to the place where they want to be? Things are not that black and white. They are grey. And so are these students learning their way around people: some act as good human beings and some poorly. That act/persona of “snake” comes from the influence of society, family values and culture. At the nexus of it is a human being which is being nurtured and re-structured.

So if those humans promised you candies and hugs and friendship-forever-bracelets in exchange for assignment help and internship hunt or group work struggles and instead, treated you badly or did not share their own multibillion dollar idea and stole yours or published a paper without consulting you when you were the equal co-author. Then we can conclude that the person is treacherous- a life lesson teaching on campus coefficient The Snake.