Being part of an organising committee of college fests gives students first hand experience of the corporate world and much- needed exposure

C ollege fests might seem to be all fun and games, but serious learning takes place behind the scenes as students don the ‘managerial’ cap. From learning leadership qualities to managerial skills, it is a first hand experience into the working world. We talk to students and see what they have learnt from organising fests.

“Most of the activities are student driven and many a times, we students have a clash with our teachers as well when it comes to matters like budget, policies and ideas. Many decisions are not agreed upon by the management and convincing them and dealing with change is the first skill we learn as part of the organising committee. In time, we learn to deal with the management effectively. Apart from that, we also learn important people skills. Not everyone gets a chance to be part of the organising committee and the ones who are left behind mostly have a difference in opinion and don’t support you. One needs to tread carefully in such situations as they have the power to influence the others and you need to support of your college mates when you are organising a fest. I have learnt a lot of my people skills like this,” says Arun Balaram, student and Co-ordinator of Verve 2008, St Joseph’s college of Business Administration’s annual fest.

Arun also has learnt how to deal with professionals after the fest.

“Frankly speaking, at the end of the day, corporate sponsors are only interested in the mileage they get out of the event. They are pressed for time and you cannot dilly dally with them. They also give a lot of attitude as we are students. We need to learn to deal with them effectively and handle rejection too. Out of the 50 sponsors that we approached, we got only six to agree,” says Arun.

Setbacks apart, one also learns to deal with unexpected changes that are a part and parcel of any fest. In a high strung environment, one also needs to stay cool, something that being part of a college fest teaches. Janardhan Rao, a first year MBA student from Christ College shares his experience of heading an event. “Just two days before the event, we were denied permission to use the auditorium. All our rounds were based in the auditorium and we had to come up with a whole new set of rounds that could be conducted in the food court. It was out-of-the-box thinking that helped us as in the end, after staying up all night and coming up with the new event, people were all praise for the event and called it ‘zara hatke’ and fun. This taught me how to handle last minute change and has made me confident about life in the corporate world, after college.” Now that he has a successful fest in his kitty, Arun too feels confident about entering the corporate world. “Organising this fest has given me the right kind of exposure and a platform to showcase my talents. I believe that more students should get this kind of exposure. In the one month that I organised this fest, I learnt a lot more than what I studied in one year of management,” adds Arun.

Jasmine Simi, senior lecturer of marketing agrees that organising fests gives students a platform for the future. “This gives them a chance to implement whatever they have learnt theoretically. It is platform to learn skills that they can use in the corporate working world,” says Jasmine.

Some students have even used their experience as a tool for the future. Nilma Dileepan, a student of Mount Carmel College aspires to get into movie production and organising college fests have guided her in that direction. “As part of the union, we have learnt how to set budgets, design the theme, décor and pretty much even be on the field to organise lighting and other such necessities. My career choice of film production is almost like working on the sets of the college fest. Now that I have the experience, I know that I am much more capable to handle it,” says Nilma.

If you are in college, don’t miss out on the opportunity to be part of the organising committee for a first hand experience of the working world.