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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
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