Dear Students,
Congratulations on your admission to Dr. D. Y. Patil Vidyapeeth, Pimpri, Pune and welcome to this incredible, multi-generational, and inclusive community of learning. This is the moment you have been waiting for a new beginning, your journey as a student here.
I am thrilled, that we will have the opportunity to begin a new year of our academic lives together. I have seen our community come together in good times and in challenging times; pushing one another to become more thoughtful and engaged citizens and supporting one another in times of need.
As you prepare for your arrival on campus, I want to encourage you to consider how you will use your time here, where you will devote your talents, and what you might do to contribute to the Vidyapeeth community as an ambassador. While it might be easy to continue familiar patterns in a new place, I want to remind you that your past does not define you. During your stay here, strive to make a difference. I encourage you to be open to new ideas, experiences, and directions. You will be learning from the greatest in the field and with the best and the brightest surrounding you, and will undoubtedly be challenged to think about new topics or view old topics in new ways. You never know when something might pick your interest.
You have chosen DPU School of Design expecting an education, but you will leave with so much more. Here, you will author your own story, and in the process, you will help write the next chapter of Vidyapeeth's story as well. The community of friends and colleagues you will find here is like no other. Every day, you will learn from professors and your peers and feel supported by an amazing group of mentors and colleagues. When milestones are accomplished, or when it’s time for your first professional presentation, your oral exams, or even the “job talk,” there will be an endless number of people willing to spend as many hours as you need listening to you, providing you with feedback, and helping you fight with your bullets in PowerPoint (it will happen!). And if life throws you a curveball, the entire community will rally around you to offer support, guidance, and a shoulder to cry on. Not once will you feel alone while you are here.
There is no other place quite like DPU and I hope you find this to be true as well.
I conclude by offering you some simple advice on how to make the best of your experience here at the Vidyapeeth. Share your knowledge and skills; don’t keep them to yourself. Challenge yourself and your peers on a daily basis. Embrace one another’s passions for children, education, communities, policy, and practice. Absorb everything. And above all, have fun. You have the power to change people’s lives - the lives of students, faculty, and staff. And I look forward to doing this with you!
Best of luck to each and every one of you!