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1. Tell us more about your role & responsibilities at your college.
My roles and responsibilities are dual in nature on one side, I have to manage the academics like every other student, which is tough enough in my field (Biotech). The second part is managing the societies and committees I am a part of. When I first got to know about different societies and clubs in the college, I wasn't very excited about them.
Still, gradually I got more involved and saw them as an opportunity to grow my skill set. I started to work honestly in them, and now after two years, I hold a high position in these societies/clubs, even though it had been very consuming at times. Still, I enjoy the workload (sometimes at the cost of my academics too and no, I don't recommend that).
2. How did you rise to your position, and how can a student aspiring the same, approach it?
I don't think it's tough to rise to any position that you aim for even if you start a little late because I didn't actually plan something, in particular, to rise to a position. I just went on doing the work that my seniors assigned me and just did everything with honestly, to any students who would want to hold a position of responsibility in their college, I would suggest them to first do what you actually enjoy not just for the sake of it. You have to enjoy it and to enjoy it you have to be interested in it, because trust me there will come times when you would be overwhelmed with your academics in those times you won't be able to give proper attention to anything you don't like.
Secondly, I would say the most important thing is how much impact that thing will have in your life and help or affect people around you. Thirdly for the students who are more concerned about how the CV or resume would look, see your CV won't look good if you have just good grades, any good institute will look for what you have done with your academics which will highlight your CV from the crowd and make it look unique. So join clubs that are fun but also join committees and NGOs.
3. What are your career goals, and how is what you are doing going to help you with that?
My career goals aren't well-defined as of now, but I do have a guide or maybe a rough idea as to what I want to do and where I want to see myself in the coming years. Currently, I am a part of training and placement cell in my college which allows me to interact with companies and HR, though getting hired after my degree isn't my priority as of now, what I want to say is that I am interested in core Biotech like research and development stuff and companies aren't big on hiring fresher for RnD in my field.
I am currently secretary(though I'd be running for president this year) of Society of Biological Engineering which is a student chapter under AIChE this is actually connected to my field directly, and this position enables me to be a part of professionals in my field of education around the World so yeah it has its perks.
4. What are the top skills that you have learnt with what you do?
Top skills that I learnt would be the management of big groups of students, time management and how to keep your cool when things go haywire around you, yeah and also to talk to HR from different companies and convince them to join our placements ( I'd say my convincing skills are actually quite excellent now).
These two years in all these clubs and societies handling events and competitions one could come across a lot of situations which sometimes go beyond your control, but what I have learnt so far is how to manage them, which would be my most prized quality, I am not the same person I was two years ago. I am so thankful to my seniors and everyone who helped me and guided me through all of this and especially to a "person"(no names) who actually taught me how to handle things from events to heading big teams of students.
5. What did you do in your current role that makes you feel proud of yourself?
I have handled many events, though I do not consider them my best I like to think there is always scope for growth, I recently did organise few online events in lockdown. I am really proud of how they turned out, and of course, I had a lot of help from my team (thank you to them if they are reading this).
Yes, I really love the fact that being in such a position I can have a good impact on my peers and maybe juniors because I was clueless when I was in their shoes last year I remember not knowing about internships and all, so I feel very blessed that I can impart my knowledge to them.
I would say that I have a lot of things planned for next year if they go accordingly then I'll have few more things to be proud of and I hope this pandemic to be over soon so that everyone can get back to their lives and I can conduct my plans smoothly ( I sound like an evil mastermind here).
6. Do you enjoy the kind of influence you hold at such a young age?
It's not much of an influencer right now, but I do feel happy about the fact that I can help people who need it. Yes, it's fun sometimes like they say with powers come fun( or maybe it was something else). Still, yes I do enjoy the influence if any I have over my peers or juniors and I hope I can help them in any way possible so that they don't have to go through what I went through (being clueless about academics and career).
It's challenging to find people who are actually interested in core Biotech and when you are a fresher who is interested in the field but you have no one to guide you it really feels helpless. Yet, I am thankful to everyone who helped me back then and to keep the cycle going I not only enjoy but feel that it's my responsibility to be a good influence.
7. What's your message to encourage students to do internships and attend conferences?
Okay, so the big question about internships, seminars, conference, workshops, project, etc.
Listen if you are in any biological science field these things that I mentioned above are crucial, and I can't stress this enough they are as important as your grades. Initially, you don't think these things matter much but yes they do a lot and not only in Biological sciences but in every other field too, but it's a must for the former.
It's not about how big the internship is or how important or popular the project topic is, even being a part of the team means something (and it looks good on the resume). Conference and seminars are not only for your knowledge, but they are merely important, yes important!
I'd suggest all the fresher and sophomores, take up projects in your summer vacations, you can do online internships, you can also approach your faculty, seek help your seniors and most of all you should always be attentive of what the current situation is. For instance, presently you have a lot of online internships out in the market waiting for you to grab the opportunity and even earn out of them, it's not necessarily important that the internship should reflect your career goals, but you have to be smart about them. The last thing that I want to point out is ONLINE COURSES.
Again, if your field is Biological Science then online course are a must you can always contact your department coordinator for the payment and stuff, most of the university have tie-ups with platforms like NPTEL, Coursera, Udemy, Edx, etc. The only thing that matters is how you use the free time.
Interview by - Geetika Bali
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