Toastmasters International - 2nd Speech

Experience in CMS 

It was my first day in this college. I walked into the gate, extremely nervous, but excited. I wondered what it would be like. I hoped for an amazing day but was also prepared for a mediocre day. It was extremely intimidating to look around and find people in groups and small gangs chatting, laughing and looking very comfortable. I felt awkward until I found a few familiar faces –. Good morning Master toastmaster, evaluators, dear guests and my fellow toastmasters. I am going to talk about my experience in CMS so far.

Honestly, it has been nothing like I expected it to be. I have enjoyed these 1st few weeks a lot more than I anticipated. We started off with 2 weeks of a lengthy but useful orientation period. Some which I truly enjoyed and some not so much. However, it did help me make a smoother transition into college by the time regular classes began. It was during these 2 weeks that I got to know most of the class and spent a little time interacting and getting to know my classmates better – the ones that were present, at least. Once regular classes began, the focus shifted to subjects, teachers, assignments, deadlines, attendance and what not!

The one month of management and cultural fest team selections is the best experience one can go through. In terms of fun as well as learning, all the extra time that we spent in college was totally worth it! Then came the Fresher’s Day which was yet another superb experience. The entire class being a team and working towards victory really helped us in realizing the importance and power of unity and pride. I must say I truly enjoyed those evenings where we stayed back till late evening in college trying to finish our B-Plan. We racked our brains and exhausted our ideas and equally had our share of fun and laughter. Being media students our brain is not wired to come up with a ‘financial’ plan but none the less we had to! And oh boy! It was a tough task. We hate math for god’s sake!

Toastmasters is also a truly wonderful opportunity for me to get rid of my stage fear. The meets every Thursday never fail to surprise me, and hence I await them eagerly. The themes are fun, the speeches give me insights into my classmates and the interactivity helps everyone open up.

Coming to firsts… In CMS- oh no sorry, BMS... I wrote the 1st ever imposition in my life. It was the first time when watching a movie was actually a serious class. 1st time I discovered that 2 of my friends, at the peak of laughter can sound like donkeys who are suffocating and are about to die. It was the 1st time where nicknames like ‘KG kid’ and ‘Slumchild’ are considered prestigious. 1st time when “meet me after class” is scarier than any punishment. 1st time when taking attendance on a tab is the short-term ambition of everyone in class. 1sttime I made models using unimaginable materials including toilet paper. 1st time I took a selfie of the class, with the teacher, in the class. 1st time when intelligence, knowledge, performance and talent is given more importance than marks. 1st time when all the teachers are so friendly and approachable… the list is endless.

So dear classmates, here’s to many more firsts. Many more achievements. Much more learning and of course, a lot of fun. We’ve managed to stick together and do so much, but we still have a long way to go. There will be highs and lows but as long as we are there for each other, we can overcome every obstacle. So let us enjoy what we are doing and give it our best shot. Let’s make the best of all the time we have together during these 3 years. 

Over to the MC

Freshers' Day @ CMS

“Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.” - Peter Drucker

Management and leadership skills are best learnt on the job and 1^st year students of Jain University – Center for Management Studies (CMS) learnt this when they organized their Freshers’ Day. The event was held at MLR Convention Centre, Brigade Millennium Campus, JP Nagar on the 28^th of July 2014.

The entire event was completely put together by the students, for the students. Right from the conceptualization, screening process, hospitality and logistics, inviting of judges and actual implementation on D-day, students got a first-hand experience of all the nitty-gritty’s that go into managing and organizing an event of a certain magnitude. Involvement of professors and college staff was minimal and it was a win-win situation.

The event began at 9 AM with the invocation song and lighting of the lamp. Thereafter, Center Head, Prof. Dinesh Nilkant addressed the batch calling it his ‘dream batch’ due to the varied talents and capabilities of the students from both the management and media sections. Before the inter-class competitions began, Chairman of Jain Group of Institutions Dr. Chenraj Roychand gave his words of wisdom to the Freshers present at the event.

The inter-class competitions conducted were Solo-singing, solo-dance, group-dance, business plan, business quiz and humorous speech. The participants from all the classes put up an amazing show of talent and knowledge. The CMS Bollywood dance team enthralled the audience with an energetic dance performance. The CMS Theatre club, ‘Thespiae’ also showcased a play that was loved by all. Musical performances by Mr. Dilip of the media studies department and also the CMS music team received wonderful appreciation too. The college newsletters and a ‘Toastmasters International’ newsletter were released by the Center Head and he congratulated the editorial teams on their efforts.

Saving the best for the last, the final few events of the day were the most awaited. Yash Bhandari, a BBA was selected as the 1^st year CMS Best Manager. The names of first-year students, who were selected for the Cultural Fest Team, were announced by CMS Cultural heads Zaid Siraj, Guru Datha and Sushmitha Singh. The first-years who made it onto the highly prestigious Management Fest Team were officially unveiled by Ronit Lahiri and Vetrivel Natarajan. Last, but not the least, BBA ‘C’ Section were announced the overall winners and took away the Freshers’ Day Trophy.

The experience of organizing a large event such as Freshers’ Day gives students a great amount of exposure.  The art of communication and negotiation with various stakeholders is mastered. The value of finances & funds is realized. The importance of time and punctuality is reinstated into students who are fresh out of school. A sense of professionalism and a corporate form of functioning automatically seeps into the working style of the young students and this is supremely advantageous. Lastly, it acts as a much-needed bridge for students to successfully make the transition from a protected school environment to a much more open and unguarded atmosphere of college life. This, not just in terms of a managerial perspective, but also in terms of an audience’s perspective, where a socio-cultural gathering of young and enthusiastic students raring to go, provides for an entertaining and educative experience like never before. Such an affair also lays a strong foundation for the many such events lined up throughout the year at CMS. Students are only going to build upon their knowledge and efforts, going forward in life.