" And why do we fall Bruce? So we can learn to pick ourselves up."
This line from Christopher Nolan's 'Batman Begins' has always inspired me and I try to keep it in mind whenever I feel low. I’ve been a student at IITGN for only two years, but the experiences I have gone through, the mistakes I have made and the things that I have learned so far don’t do justice to that number. The mistakes that I have made seem more significant to me. We always learn from our mistakes, don’t we? If we haven’t made any, then either we are perfect, or we are lacking something. Generally, it is the latter of the two, and believe me, you don’t want to be in that position in your life, ever! For me, the mistakes are of paramount importance, simply because I have made many. It took me time to assess them, and in fact, I am still trying to! But, most importantly, I am constantly learning from them, constantly growing.
Throughout my school life, I had worked on projects, assignments or any other tasks on my own. College was the first time when I noticed that no big task could be pulled off without a team and that the team would fail without appropriate teamwork. New to such a structure, I failed to realise the importance of teamwork and didn’t do justice to my role. I didn’t put in the required time and efforts, letting down my friends, my peers, professors, and even the college at times. To make things worse, I refused to learn from my shortcomings and moved on. However, unknowingly, I was still searching for answers to the questions I had buried away.
We have all heard this proverb, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy’. And it was indeed the football field where I first started to understand the true meaning and importance of teamwork and the results that it could produce. However, this was not enough, I needed something more. This is when I luckily stumbled upon the opportunity to reshape myself as a human being when I joined the CMI team. A team that incorporates leadership traits, values teamwork and has a strong work ethic.
To be honest, I didn’t fit in well initially, I couldn’t truly grasp the motive towards which the team worked. Neither was I learning anything nor was I contributing to the team. This is when the people around me helped me, in both direct and indirect ways. They would talk to me, let me know their stories and guide me. At other times, I would be a passive watcher, soaking in whatever I could from the people around me. Working in the team helped me open up to my peers as well, and the more I talked, the more I learned, the more I improved. The last few months at home have been an eye-opener for me in many regards as I embark on a journey to unlock my full potential. All one probably needs is time and I feel that everyone must take the time to reflect on things, be it professional, personal, important or unimportant. The key is not to overindulge yourself and procrastinate but to find out what works best for you! I feel much more comfortable working in the team now, better relate to the agendas at hand and feel a bit more resourceful to the team as compared to before. As I better understood how things work in reality, I could reflect on the mistakes I had earlier made and draw reasonable conclusions, finally starting to find answers to the questions I had buried away.
Still, there is a long way to go. I am not even half of what proper leaders are, but then that’s what learning is, it is a constant process. It is those who endure that come out on top. I had almost given up at one point, and that is when somebody told me, “You have a lot of potential, don’t let it go waste, figure out solutions to your problems, don’t succumb to them”. That’s all it takes, a small push, a small glimmer of light in the dark night to set you on the right track!
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