Divyansh Vijay Singh is a B.Sc. Physical Science (Chemistry) student of Acharya Narendra Dev College, University of Delhi, who has been continuously involved in beyond the classroom activities.
Here, Divyansh is sharing his experience being a Mayor at ANDC Students’ Council. His hard work has the potential to propel him ahead of the curve.
Go ahead and know what his story has to offer so that you can easily find a path of self-growth. Young Influxers go ahead and upgrade yourself!!!
What was your role? Briefly list the responsibilities associated with it.
As a president of the Students’ Council (Students’ Union as it is known in most of the colleges), I was the elected representative of the students of the college. The problems faced by every student vary and so does our way of getting them solved. We had to deal with various problems ranging from getting a particular spot cleaned because it was left untouched by the concerned authorities for a long to having a very constrained budget for organizing the biggest event of the college, the annual cultural festival. I got to interact with an NGO working for women when we were planning to get a Pad Vending Machine installed on our campus for girls. I got to know what challenges they face while working in such a field and how we, as students, can help them in their great cause. All these challenges and responsibilities helped me in grooming myself and now, when the tenure is about to get over, I can say I am an improved person when compared to what I was a year ago.
What’s it like to juggle between leadership roles and academics? Pen down the challenges you faced.
Graduation is the period when one gets ample opportunities to explore one’s field of interest. In the school, there was this pressure of constantly scoring good and this didn’t allow us to get ourselves involved in other activities, especially if you come from tier-2 or tier-3 cities. Being in college is the time when one can learn as many things as one wishes to do. But, anyone with extracurricular involvements finds it really difficult to get a perfect balance.
A similar case was mine. Being at such a position of responsibility, it was really difficult for me to handle this juggle. However, I strongly feel that it totally depends on the individual how he/she deals with it. I have known people who were very active in extracurricular activities and still managed to maintain a great academic record as well.
Coming to myself, I have been involved in different activities outside the classroom throughout my college life and so, I couldn’t attend all the classes. But, I made sure I was not cut off from the classroom activities. I was lucky enough to have friends who ensured that I submitted all the assignments on time. Also, the preparation leaves before exams proved to be very effective as this was the time when there was very little work to do and I could devote my time to studies and managed to maintain an average academic performance.
What are the top learnings, skills and values that you acquired here?
I had many learnings being at this post. As told earlier, I got this opportunity of interacting with people from different fields and how their system works. The fact that hundreds of students have elected you to represent them feels you with a great sense of responsibility. This sense of responsibility proves to be very effective while making any decision because we have this continuous thought running in the back of my mind that this will have an impact on the students in the college.
Another thing that I learnt is the art of effective communication and how to be multitasking. Getting work done in such institutions involves a lot of internal procedures and it may take a lot of time for anything to come on the ground. In such scenarios, I used to plan a lot of things so that after every few days, there was one thing or other going on. This was very effective in order to ensure student involvement throughout the year.
The values that I learnt being in this position is that if one has to make oneself counted, he/she has to be brutally honest with his/her duties and responsibilities. I gradually developed a sense of belonging towards my institution which, I feel, is very essential if one wants to do justice with the role assigned. I also got opportunities to talk with various eminent and inspirational personalities while inviting them for talks/seminars at my college. They not only attended these seminars but also while talking to them, I got to learn many things that I applied in my personal and public life afterwards. For me, this was the biggest perk.
Do you feel your current role fills you with pride and gratitude? Illustrate how the experience gained will help you going forward.
Yes, I certainly feel so. The best feeling was the sense of satisfaction that comes when I am able to solve any problem that anyone is facing. e.g.- During the time of admissions, there are certain students who have cleared the cutoff but they don’t have some of the required documents and they start panicking, then I use to contact concerned authorities requesting them for date extension for the submission. Most often, the authorities are supportive enough to allow. Then, that feeling of relief that I see on the faces of those students really inculcates a sense of satisfaction within me. Similarly, that feeling when we saw a huge crowd enjoying during the cultural fest really filled me and my teammates with pride and satisfaction.
Solving real-life problems of the students was a very enriching experience. Talking about how this will help in my future endeavours, I aspire to make a career in public administration and all these small things do matter a lot only in that particular field but also in our social lives. I strongly believe that these learnings and these values that were inculcated through this experience will surely help me a lot in my life ahead as well.
As when we talk about leadership we have a whole team with us. How do you persuade others to accept your ideas/ways?
According to me, a leader is one who tries to make more leaders like him for the upcoming times. I strongly believe that rather than persuading others to follow one’s way, a leader should describe his vision and expect his/her teammates to come with the ways of completion of that particular idea or vision. This not only helps in exploring the creative intellect of the team but also ensures the generation of team spirit. I followed the same philosophy and I used to listen to anyone who came up with an idea then I would describe my point of view and a collective idea would generate soon. This, I find, is more efficient for getting good results and building a great team.
What is your message to students, aspiring to the same or a similar role to do?
My message to students who aspire to do a similar role is always to be honest with yourself and your duties. Be what you are. Everyone has different ways of reacting to things; try to find your own way and follow it; just make sure you are loyal to your work. It is possible that things may not go as planned and in that case, it’s totally fine to accept it and find an alternative. Your ambition should be the betterment of your institution and not any sort of prestige. If your ambition is genuine, you’ll definitely find a way to achieve it.
How can we (Friends, Family, YI Fraternity) encourage young students such as yourself to engage with co-curricular or extra-curricular activities?
The mentality that only classroom studies will pave way for one’s future needs to be abolished first of all. The thinking that extracurricular involvements are equally important for overall growth must be inculcated within the students. Families should be made aware of how all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
I really appreciate the Young Influx fraternity for this unique approach where students will get to learn from people of their age group. Generally, what happens is that students listen to some motivational stories of successful persons and it does inspire them but not to an extent that it can have an impact on their day-to-day lives. On the other hand, when they get to read about students like them doing such things alongwith studies, it will definitely motivate them for doing wonders outside the classroom.
Anything else would you like to say to the YI learners who’ll be reading your experience?
I would like to say that what you genuinely feel is good for you is actually good for you. Never fear to explore new things, who knows where your fortune lies.
We at Young Influx would take this opportunity to thank Divyansh for taking a leap of faith and sharing his impeccable story. We are humbled and grateful, your efforts mean a lot for the youth seeking growth and development.
And hello, dear readers, we welcome you to explore the platform with an open mind. Help yourself gain the most out of the experiences and opportunities listed here.
And before you bid us adieu, we would like you to know that you can read more such student stories here.
