Student Leader Interview - Shivangi Sharma, JMC

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Q1. Tell us about your roles and responsibilities in college?

Hi, I’m a first-year, pursuing my undergrad in Political Science with a minor in Economics from Jesus and Mary College. JMC has always been home to me, beginning from the many MUN conferences that I came to attend here while I was in school, to becoming a part of the MUN society and The Debating Society when I joined college. DEBSOC came to me at a time when I was trying to figure out a switch in college, but when I got in, I knew there was no going back from this place. 

There was so much to unlearn and learn in college that I couldn’t figure a place to start, so Debsoc gave me that place. The interest in the activity was just a jumpstart for me to be a part of this society. It was the learning through every session and each passing mock debate that helped more than ever. I’d be lying if I say I don’t wish to quit after every tournament I attend for the entire weekend and get back to college the next week, but the society has a way of making you stick around for more. Since the first semester, I have attended 5 national debating tournaments and won two MUN conferences, and also helped organize JMCMUN 2020, while being in the Organising Committee and also being a part of Delegate Affairs Department. 

Q2. How did you rise up to your position and how can a student aspiring the same, approach it?

I remember being in a room full of 10 women while I gave the interview for Debsoc and that, I was intimidated would be an understatement. I was badgered with questions that I had answers to, but I barely ever approached them with the train of thought that they had. So, when I left that room, I knew I was in for a ride in this space and that I liked to be challenged. A week passed and I got a call from a senior that I got in. 

It’s not easy giving a speech for about 7 minutes straight and it’s even tougher matching your mock schedules with your attendance in class because it drains everything out of you. It became exhausting for me for the initial weeks but each time I thought I should take a step back from this, I wanted to do it even more. Every break became about reading motions, debating with freshers, or just sessions that gave me the incentive to read in informed ways. I believe that debating gave me perspective. Whatever I learned in class, I could apply it in a safer space, and more than it gave me confidence, I was proud of the person I was becoming, so I decided to continue. 

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

I believe that every day becomes a challenge if you decide to take it up as one. For me, the biggest challenge was choosing to continue being a member of Debsoc when I had so many other societies to handle. Every Wednesday became about juggling between three societies altogether and going to attend a class right after. More than this, it was tough to involve myself through weekdays and weekends in debates that I wasn’t even close to winning initially. But, I also realized I was here to learn and not win. Every tournament that I attended created a space for me to learn and with every speech that a senior gave, it made me improve on mine and that’s how I went on. 

4. What did you do in your current role that makes you feel really proud of yourself?

Being a person who doesn’t become satisfied too easily, I’ve always wanted to try new things. There’s been an urge to learn and do more. What’s made me proud isn’t that I am a part of these societies or that I’m winning at conferences. I have been able to become a more informed person than I was before. I think it’s fair to say that I have become less ignorant about things that require immediate attention.

I believe that with every decision that we take, there’s a fair amount of privilege attached to it, so being able to keep that in check is what these spaces have given to me. With each article that I choose to write, I try to keep a fair check that it’s more informed and well-read. But apart from that, I’ve become a more confident individual who can now defend what she believes in, and that makes me want to stick around for more. 

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

I feel that believing in you is what I’ve always got from my seniors and teachers, whenever I asked them this. However, there’s always more to achieve things. With the first conference I ever attended in college, I realized that age was just a number, it all depends on how prepared you are to take up a challenge and you can never be too prepared. I won’t say that I don’t feel sorry for myself when I lose, but I try to pick on mistakes I made and learn from my feedback.

Interviewed by - Sunidhi Gupta