St Paul's Cathedral Mission College B.A Review By Abanti Pramnik

I had little expectations when I was told to try getting admission to St. Paul's Cathedral Mission College which is known for the English Department specifically. But the first day I walked through the gates, I had the longing to crack the admission, witnessing the old-age heritage architecture surrounded by a huge playground, in the center of the busiest part of North Kolkata. That day on, for the next three years, the college became an intricate part of my life. St. Paul's Cathedral Mission College shaped my academic endeavors for the future through its incredible faculties, and a great ambiance that nurtured academics, personal values, and extracurricular talents. Though it’s a lesser-known college compared too many legendary institutions in the city, St. Paul's has everything and more that is needed to shape a student's future. The ambiance was the primary motivator to study here. But soon I found out the English Department had the finest faculties you can ask for. Apart from the academics, the extracurricular were another attraction of this college. Annual Sports, participation in inter-college tournaments, yearly fests and occasional workshops organized by different departments made college life exciting. To round it up, St. Paul's Cathedral Mission College holistically nurtures a student's growth in every way possible, creating generations of well-rounded adults for a prosperous future.

St. Paul's College has earned a reputation and came into the limelight for the exceptional Department of English. The candidate required minimum of 70% aggregate in the board exams and 80% minimum in English to be eligible to apply. Admission to bachelor's degree is done on merit basis. For Post-graduation there is an entrance test though a few seats are reserved for in-house graduates. There are approximately eight teachers, including two guest lecturers, two permanent lecturers, three associate professors and one professor. The college also has a Post-Graduation course only for English Literature that got approval in 2015- becoming one of the very few colleges to have their post-graduation department as well. St. Paul's College is graded A, as per NAAC.

The Department of English is headed on a rotational basis by different teachers every few years. During my days in college, I had witnessed Dr. Anushuya Bhar and Dr. Siddhartha Biswas being the HOD respectively. Both were exceptional teachers. Apart from them, the other teachers include Tanaya Chatterjee, Chaitali Maitra and Ayesha Ali. Every faculty have the highest educational qualification (Ph.D as well as few teachers were preparing for post-doctorate) required and very unique teaching styles. I could still recall how they would often go above and beyond for students who showed promise. Unlike many of my friends from other colleges, I never needed private tutors during these three years. The credit goes entirely to the faculties who dedicatedly checked my notes after-hours and even engaged in discussions whenever I got stuck with any topic.

The college does not have placement facilities, similar to any other graduation colleges in Kolkata. However, individual departments often take the initiative for placement drives for the students. Especially in the English department, such placement drives, career counseling often happened for final-year graduate as well as post-graduate students.

There are hostel facilities for boys within the college campus, but the seats are very limited and only needy students or those coming from more than 100km distance from Kolkata are considered.

The entire college campus comprises of six buildings in total including the St. Paul's School which is just beyond the college campus boundaries. There is a towering one hundred and fifty years old main building where the English department is situated along with History, Economics, and Political Science. There is a newer secondary building known as the administrative building that houses the reception, principal's office and the main staffroom as well as few spare classrooms and an auditorium. The building is connected by a hanging balcony with the Science division building behind the main building. Chemistry, Physics, Bengali, Sanskrit departments are here along with the laboratories. Apart from these, there is another block for Sociology, Education Department and a larger auditorium. There is a well-equipped canteen, boy's common room, boy's hostel, girl's common room and gymnasium on the campus. A huge playground and a basketball court by the main building together ensure there is ample space for sports.

The college fest is the biggest attraction every year. The college fresher's welcome is equally anticipated. You will definitely find some friends for lifetime here among the minimum four thousand students who get admitted every year in different departments. There are departmental workshops and events as well. From teacher's day to children's day- every occasion calls for some activity or the other. There are several clubs, especially book clubs, courtesy the huge and occasionally updated library that is around one hundred and fifty years old. There is also an in-house church that has bible reading sessions every Tuesday for anyone who is interested. Major events are marked with proper honor. Back from my college days, I can recall the three-day events celebrating the one-hundred and fifty years of the college where Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was the guest of honor.