Student Leader Interview - Ritika Wadhwa from Jesus and Mary College

Want to become a writer at Eat My News? Here is an opportunity to join the Board of Young Leaders Program by Eat My News. Click here to know more: ​ bit.ly/boardofyoungleaders

1. Tell us more about your role and responsibilities at your college.

I, Ritika Wadhwa as the President of Mercatus, The Marketing Society of Jesus and Mary college, led one of the most largest societies in my college. Proactively participating in college brought various opportunities to take responsibility and manage teams. Organizing the International Conference in college allowed me to interact with ambassadors and founders who are working to bring a change in the environment and the society. Hearing from the best International scholars, I got educated about the sectors that create most emissions and areas where building resilience can make the most difference in climate change.

While working as the Finance and Sponsorship Head of Commerce Department, Jesus And Mary College, Delhi last year and as President of Mercatus, The Marketing Society now, I became well versed with the four sections of management, that is, Planning and scheduling, organizing and delegating, leading the team towards the right direction and controlling the performance according to the plan. It was then when I emerged as an aspiring leader and an efficient manager who can come up with innovative ideas to make things work smoothly as well as a person with a firm vision and the will to execute it. 

Leading two societies in college and being a member of four, I closely observed leadership styles of others too. I soon realised that a leader empowers others on the team and has the capacity to translate vision into reality. 

As the Event Head in the Annual Fundraiser during my freshman year in College, I proved my forte by maximizing my team’s effort to raise funds that amounted to highest raised by a Society till date. Besides organizing events, I played an active role in the Finance And Sponsorship as well as Content Creation Department of other Societies. We ran weekly campaigns on our instagram page, worked on content, planned and executed an outreach program. We expanded into sustainable marketing by launching Anti Plastic Campaign and Crockery Bank in our college. It was something new for us to try and a was very fruitful venture with a purpose to it.

2. How can we encourage more young students such as yourself to take up leadership role?

The plethora of experiences through internships, various community engagements and
participation in college has augmented my communication and oratory skills. My only advise to the young students is to explore and explore. These three years is an amazing time and opportunity to discover your strengths and figure out what you are good at. Alot of times you may have worked for a thing and realised it is not your preference, but you have always something that you take from each new experience, you step out of your comfort zone and you learn something.

3. What have been your biggest challenges and learning from what you do?

Time Management and Multi-Tasking has been my biggest challenge during this time. Leading a 130 member society, doing 5 internships, launching new ventures and managing your academics does require you to manage your time very efficiently. You have to keep your best foot forward in each of these places because all are equally important. It is very important to manage your academics, equally important to expand and grow your society, there are a lot of people that look up to you and it constantly needs spontaneity and actions. You need to connect with your members continuously, brainstorm ideas before every event and take all concerns in the picture as well. 

Doing internships is equally important to build up your profile, not only for your resume but for you as well. The amount of confidence and knowledge you get is way beyond words.

4. What are your career goals and how is what you are doing is going to help you with that? 

I aim to enter into the consulting sector, during my 6 months of graduate experience with Deloitte, I worked on multiple projects in Risk Advisory Team. I worked on IRDA regulations, Asset Management Project and also handled recruiting for multiple finance profiles. This entire experience made me familiar with the working culture as well as the reputation that Deloitte holds. 

I think the main reason that draws me into consulting is the quality of work they do. There is always something new to look forward to. I met a senior consultant during my trainee program and he walked me through the entire process and the detailed analysis that goes for each and every client. We also discussed the recent project he was working on. I found all of that very intriguing and at that moment I realised consulting is a perfect fit for me.

5. What's your message to encourage students to do internships and attend conferences?

I believe it is very important to be out there and not just stay restricted to your shell in college. It is very important to attend as many workshops, seminars you can attend. Attend inter-college events, participate in case study competitions, create a business plan, write a research paper, learn what excites you. You will probably not get this amount of time and opportunities any other time, so it is probably one of the most exciting time where there is genuinely no restrictions on what you want to learn. If want to enter into marketing, enter a digital marketing firm and work for a while, if you wan to enter into finance, learn the niche you want to target. Connect with people on Linkedin, see how they started, talk to people and learn something from each one of them.

- Ritika Wadhwa

Interview by - Gurleen Kaur