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1.Tell us more about your role & responsibilities at your college
College has been a wonderful and adventurous ride for me till now, and I hope the last few months will be no less than that. As I entered the college, like every other student, I was really excited for the journey ahead and thus wanted to be a part of as many things as I could. So, I started sitting for the selection procedures of every exciting society I could get to know of in the initial 15 days of college. I got into all that I wished for but unfortunately couldn’t be a part of more than three societies as per the norms of one of the clubs I really wanted to work with. So, I shortlisted and then finally started off as a member of Entrepreneurship Cell, Enactus and Core Team of Department of Commerce.
Stepping up the ladder each year and continuing with what I loved doing the most, I am currently the Vice President of Entrepreneurship Cell and Marketing Head of Department of Commerce, while being a Senior Coordinator of the newly founded Training and Development ECell of JMC – NEEV.
Working towards all this requires a great amount of time and effort and a zeal to outstand and out prove yourself every time. From getting funds to sponsor the event, to getting the crowd to choose your event over others through extensive marketing, and putting in your brains in all aspects whether its technical, research, creativity or curating the event. From making sure the availability of the venue, to proper electricity supply to the stalls and arranging for a celebrity to attract the crowd, everything has to be looked after. It does sometimes feel like a pressure cooker is going to burst in your head because the work load is such, but trust me it’s such a satisfying feeling when you pull off an event that turns out to be a success. JMC has given me a lot of exposure, these years changed the way I viewed the world. I can say this with 100% conviction that all these roles and responsibilities have surely me made me ready for the real world.
2.What is it like to juggle between a leadership role and normal college life?
As much as one think that it’s quite a great thing to have an authority like this, there’s an equal or rather a greater amount of responsibility that lies with it in terms of handling academics, friendships, relationships and managing the society. There exists a trade-off between them, and one needs to find a balance to attain the optimum level of life.
You have friends working under or in almost the same position as you, and then you have friends outside of that circle, it requires a considerable amount of time to maintain such relationships too. And not just the time, it even requires sensitivity to handle work and relationships with care. So prioritising is what I think is the solution to it. Have your own priority list in your mind that aligns with your life goals at all times, and then everything seems to be flowing quite easily.
One think that everyone should remember is that you can’t make everyone happy, nor are you required to do so. Work towards your personal development and never be guilty in choosing self-care over others, and the ones who really love you will never break things with you for this reason. And that’s the way you can easily juggle between working, studying, chilling and relaxing!
3.Do you enjoy the kind of influence you hold at such a young age?
Of course, I do. I don’t think there’ll be anyone who would not. What can feel more joyful and satisfying and exciting and adventurous, all at the same time than to know that you can handle an idea that’s yours all by yourself? Working in the capacity of the Vice President of Entrepreneurship Cell, JMC has made me have a first-hand taste of how it actually feels to be an entrepreneur.
Brainstorming new ideas for events and campaigns, designing layouts, working with different departments, delegating work and leading the team by motivating and helping them at all times, and overcoming all challenges as a team, if that’s not what goes in to make even a business successful, then I don’t know what does. So, as I said before, it prepares you for the real world out there, and the process will surely have ups and downs, but the calmness you find at the end of the dark tunnel is worth the darkness.
(I feel like I actually sound like some entrepreneur right now: p)
4. Do you have a message for parents to allow their kids to do things besides academics?
Message for parents to allow their kids makes me feel like an adult answering this question, and I run from acting like one. But nevertheless, yes, I do. My parents never stopped me from doing anything I wanted to in order to develop my personality. Since childhood my mom used to make me participate in every competition possible. Whether it was dressing up as Meera Bai, Radha or a Chedi Vaala in fancy dress competitions, acting in plays, dancing, drawing, or reciting poems, my mom made me do everything and eventually it became a habit and then a part of my personality.
Not that they didn’t tell me to study, of course they did and I used to get a scolding if I wasn’t the one who scored the highest in class! Would seem like a torture to some people reading this: p, but trust me, I think that’s what made me a perfectionist (not boasting myself, but saying this because I actually got a title of perfection personified on my 12th farewell).
All these things made me what I am today, and I am grateful for that. I am a person who needs a balance between academics and extra curriculars, I can never just study. I have done debates, recited poems, done theatre and almost everything that came across except for too much of sports, I was never interested in that one field. I am a professionally trained kathak dancer, but with all this I kept up with my academics too, I was always in the top 3 students of my batch.
One really interesting incident that I came across and is very common is when we had to choose our stream in class 11th. Let me tell you that I am doing BCom Hons, so obviously I chose to opt for Commerce. And to my surprise, my classmates were surprised at this. The one question they asked me was how are my parents allowing me to do so, aren’t they telling you to take science, you are so good in studies? And my swift answer was that they never told me what stream I should opt for, and they were completely open for me to go for humanities, Commerce or Science. And I am blessed to be have been raised up in such an environment which I realise is still very rare.
So, to all the parents out there, please let your kids do whatever they want to, let them explore all that they want to because at last it’s always going to be personality and experiences over their marksheet. Let them live their dream life, and trust me they’ll be grateful to you for that and I don’t think anything will make you happier than seeing your kids live their dream!
So, in the current year, in this role, with the innovative ideas of the newly established Research Department of Cell JMC, we launched a campaign with the name JMCKiAawaz.
This is that one thing I am really proud of myself and even more my team. It basically gave people a platform, both online and offline to voice their opinions on the topic “Intolerance against conventional social norms”.
In today’s fast-growing world, where we are all somehow a part of constant race, it’s extremely easy to lose track of who we really are and give in how society expects us to be. We often forget the importance of having our own individual identities and conform to societal constructs. So, we believed in the idea of loving oneself for who we really are and reaching our full potential without having to step away from our inherent personalities. And thus, we launched that campaign. It made people share their stories, which we posted on our social media handles, and the team also collaborated with Snehi Foundation and we held an open mic on the same.
Listening to people bravely narrating their stories and the audience cheering for them, that ended with a beautiful band session was the proudest moment I have had till now being in this role!
5.What did you do in your current role that makes you feel really proud of yourself?
My one advice to everyone in college, and everyone who’ll soon be attending college is that do everything you do to gain experience. Explore all that interests you have and never do something just for the sake of a certificate in your CV, do it because you want to do it, because it brings joy to you. Surely, a good CV is important, but something that your CV speaks about and you can’t be of no value. It rather diminishes the value of everything you ever did by putting in front of it a big question mark.
Peer pressure is very common in this age, but be directed only by your own gut. Do what you feel is right, even if you are the only one doing it. Do internships, attend conferences, seminars, workshops, volunteer for NGOs, participate in competitions, pick up a hobby, work for societies, work for yourself, do anything you want, but do only what you want because only the you’ll find the passion and enthusiasm to do it and only then will you be able to speak about what your CV speaks. And that’s the real achievement.
Make the three or four years of your college life the most fruitful ones. Explore all that you want and discover yourself. Move towards the ladder of becoming the best version of yourself.
Because now is the time!
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