Student Leader Interview- Kshitij Bhardwaj,Graphic Era University



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


Graphic Era has been a great expedition so far. Yes, I call it an expedition because, in the last 2 years, the experiences I've had have shaped me as a better person than I used to be.


Now standing at this point of time as a 3rd-year student, I think it is safe to say that college is not all fun and games, it never was. College is just a scaled-down version of the world around us where we learn how to live with your own mistakes, how to let go of the things you can't control.

In the past 2 years, I've had my fair share of ups and downs. I've faced my fears, made a lot of great memories, I stood strong in the times of adversities and took those life lessons with me while moving forward.


I'm a part of MONTAGE, a student society which is responsible for the biggest student hosted events in our university for the past 3 years now.as of now, I am at the position of EVENT HEAD basically, I'm a part of the core committee which is responsible for the smooth functioning of the entire event.

In the last iteration of the event, our team was responsible for engaging a crowd of 1.5 thousand plus participants coming from various courses in the university, as of now we are planning to organize another intra-university event and this time with a target of 2.5 thousand plus participation.


2.   How did you rise to your position and how can a student aspiring the same, approach it?

In my freshman year, there was a lot of speculation going on about the events which are organised by our seniors and MONTAGE society was the most famous one among them.It had a great run till now and was looking for new volunteers to be a part of the management team. I was very excited about this opportunity because I love taking command in such kind of events.

I went for the interview, thinking that it'll be a great opportunity for me to do something big at the university. But not everything in life is hunky-dory. 

My interview was a disaster. I stammered in front of them a lot. I couldn't give answers precisely and the interviewers were not interested in me after 2 questions.

 I came out of the room and had no hope that I would be selected. And yeah I wasn't. It crushed me as it was the one thing that I thought I was good at, but I failed myself. But then I thought that I can't give up that easily and should give it another try, and even if I failed again, what did I had to lose?


So after giving a lot of thought I contacted the Team who were taking these interviews and they were kind enough to give me a second chance.  I went in with the "what did I had to lose " attitude I gained last night and went through the interview. And this time I got it.

We were a team of 150+ members and due to my work during the event, I was recognized in the SPECIAL 40 of the team by our senior members. last year I was promoted to EVENT HEAD and had my sub-team of 20+ volunteers working under me.

If any student is aspiring to learn teamwork, perseverance, social skills, management and improving their personality as a whole. I would highly recommend clearing your head from any overthinking and anxiety. Never care about what people will say about you behind your back. But if you drag yourself down just because someone backtalk's about you. you're the one who will be at loss.


So just remember what I did. Go in with all you've got. Never hesitate to ask for help and never let ego come between you and your work, and the most important thing,  even if you fail, what did you had to lose in the first place?





   3.  What's it like to juggle between a leadership role and normal college life?


There isn't a switch which can be used to shift between normal college life and the leadership roles. I think that if a person wants to be a leader. He/she should be active and ready to take any opportunity which presents itself. Also, considering that most of the team members end up being your friends, I don't think that you can separate these two roles. But yeah a certain level of separation is still possible.



4.  What have been some of your biggest challenges and leanings from what you do?



In my experience, the biggest challenge I had to face was to bring sponsors for the event and to make them treat us seriously.to make them believe that we are not just some random college students who came to ask for money so that we can spend that amount on ourselves.


Also handling a crowd of thousand plus participants is tough work. But I and my team have handled it with the utmost professionalism every time.





    5.  Do you enjoy the kind of influence you hold at such a young age?


Yes, I do enjoy the influence but with it, I have to keep myself firm as well so that the people who look up to me never get any wrong message. Influence is always a tricky game to play. One has to remain on his best every time. so that his juniors look at him with hope, sincerity and respect.

 The fact itself that there are people in my university who look up to me is fascinating in itself. But you can't let it get to your head. otherwise, it all can go away very quickly.


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


My longtime career goal is to start my own game developing company someday. also start my own YouTube channel soon. The fact that I am a part of a student society is going to help me in future.


Any leadership role in today's world requires an outreaching personality. A person who is not afraid to speak his mind. A person who stands for what is right for the collective, and not just for himself. A person, who is always ready to sacrifice to become better. That is the kind of person I want to be.






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


In my opinion, anything which evolves you in a positive way as a person is a step in the right direction. knowledge cannot take you much farther without a personality. A person who doesn't know everything, but is willing to ask for help when needed, can work in a team, and doesn't downplay anyone else's work, is the person who becomes better in life. 

It is not necessary to look for these qualities only if your planning to step into the corporate world, but rather a necessity to be a better human being in general.

Internships make you more humble and appreciate hard work and conferences are a great way to listen to other points of views. 

 At the end of the day, the world is the amalgamation of different ideologies, thought process, beliefs and ideas. which all constitute the world that we live in. a single ideology can never make the world better.



Interviewed by - Saarthak Gautam