How a fest helped me overcome my biggest fear
About the Author: Govindu Fathima Jayadeep is pursuing B.Tech from IIIT Guwahati. He attended IIT Guwahati’s fest, Techniche, as an ISP and shares how this experience helped him overcome his biggest fear.
The above picture speaks a lot about what Internshala actually stands for. In this picture, you can see different volunteers with Internshala’s sponsorship head and one of their interns, and I can bet that it would be hard for anyone to tell the difference. That’s what Internshala’s culture is all about– keeping it simple without any hierarchy.
My journey with Internshala started when I was selected for the ISP (Internshala Student Partner) program. It was indeed a great experience as I was trying to find my way into digital marketing and learned many new things like using social platforms to market products on a large scale. However, when it came to representing Internshala at a college fest, it was completely different from what I had been doing. It was more of offline marketing, with prime focus on interaction with students and creating awareness about Internshala and importance of internships. I was quite nervous in the beginning as interacting with new people and convincing them was not of my cup of tea. I had apprehensions about my communication skills too.
When I came to know that Internshala’s sponsorship team will be attending the fest too, I decided that it was now time that I overcame my fears and leave a good impression. My first meeting with them was a pleasant surprise as they were really friendly. They treated me as their younger brother. They were the ones who gave me the confidence that I could actually go and interact with anyone. Thank you, Kirat and Sahil, for your wonderful support.
This experience of organizing a fest has helped me to grow as an individual. Leading the group of volunteers who came from different colleges of Guwahati has helped me realize that I do have the leadership qualities. From the person who thought that he couldn’t even speak to people to a leader who was guiding his team, I have come a long way. Now, I don’t have any qualms about talking to strangers. I’ve understood what teamwork really means. It’s more like sharing the responsibilities – when one gets tired, the other stands up. I’ve also learned the ropes of logistics and how important it is to the success of any event.
We also organized a game for the students called as Resume Score Calculator. It was apt for a college fest as all students wanted to test their resume skills and wanted to compete with their friends. It was a memorable experience to interact with so many students and guide them when they got a below par score. It was one of those learning curves in my life that I never want to forget. We also got cool gift vouchers and certificates as a token of appreciation for our efforts. In the end, we took a lot of selfies and shared our contact details. I was sad that the fest was over, but I knew that I had made some really good friends and even today we are in touch with each other.
Thank you, Internshala, for helping me discover my hidden potential and for wiping away all my fears.
