Dept. of English: CIVIL ASPIRANT

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH

(2017-2018)

Title:

CIVIL ASPIRANT

Principal Investigator

Dr.Annie Sunil

St.Pious X Degree and PG College for Women.

Snehapuri colony, Nacharam, Hyderabad.

Foreword

The following project is a report on Civil Aspirants Camp by AIACHE , which was assigned under the guidance of Dr.Annie Sunil Madam, HOD, Dept. Of English, done by Ms.Sheila Keziah(Lecturer in English) & Catherine Chelsea(IIIBA PPML). The report is about Leaders For Tomorrow camp and how the students with the help of the college , St.Pious X Degree and PG college for Women were trained and guided for being a Civil servant, it helped instilling a sense of social responsibility in the minds of the students along with proper leadership skills.

“Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.”

John F. Kennedy

INTRODUCTION

St. Pious X Degree & P.G College aims at empowering women to be competent to lead extraordinary lives and set high standards in professional expertise. The college collaborated with AIACHE i.e., All India Association for Christian Higher Education which is a professional association founded in 1967 a voluntary organization. It aims at promoting value-orientation and social relevance of Indian higher education to achieve the goal of national integration. It also undertakes projects related to Women Empowerment. Thus, it brings together colleges related to the Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox Churches in an inter-state, trans-denominational forum, with a view to maximizing their effectiveness and service to the national community. Therefore, the management of our college selected civil aspirant students and sent them for a three days camp, "LEADERS FOR TOMORROW - AS CIVIL SERVANTS", at Gurukul Theological Seminary, Chennai.

OBJECTIVES:

· To impart training for students to emerge as committed civil servants in the institutions of higher learning

· To impart training to student leaders on ethics and careers in civil service

· To motivate students to become credible civil servants

· To understand the concept of motivation and creativity for leaders in civil service

· To develop appropriate stewardship values to become committed leaders in civil service

· To understand the concept of self-sacrifice to serve the country

· To participate in nation building by being a committed civil servant

· To understand the need for financial transparency in being a committed civil servant

The detailed session of the training programme consisted of :

· New strategies for future leadership

· Challenges and opportunities of one's choice

· Effective communication/interpersonal communication skills

· Building leadership and networking

· Motivation

· Goal setting

· Time management

· Leader and values

· Group work

· Individuals' vision

· Contribution of individuals in nation building

Leadership Team:

The leadership team consisted of

· Professionals in a specialized field

· Experts in Leadership Training

· Experienced professors

· Civil servants

· Committed religious leaders

· Flourishing business people with ethical human values

· Politicians of high repute

· Committed social workers

· Administrators

Selection of students:

The students were selected based on their merit and their passion to become an IAS officer. Two students each were selected from II & III B.A and four from I B.A, so overall 8 students were selected.

The students selected for LEADERS FOR TOMORROW:

1. Catherine Chelsea III B.A PPML

2. Tabu Sougabdhika (III B.A PPML)

3. Sowmya (II B.A EPP)

4. Akhila (II B.A PPML)

5. Gangothri (I B.A EPP)

6. Anushka (I B.A EPP)

7. Spoorthy Victory (I B.A EPP)

8. Spoorthy (I B.A EPP)

Travel and Accommodation:

We were escorted by Mrs. Sheila Kezia (Lecturer, Department of English).

The instructions of do's and don'ts were given to us before leaving the camp. The principal wished all of us and prayed for our trip. We along with Mrs. Sheila left to Chennai on 18th October 2017 at 4:00 pm from Secunderabad Station and reached Chennai the next day i.e.; on 19th October 2017 at 5:45 am and the campus at 7:00 am. The campus was not far from the main road. It looked spick and span and had all the basic amenities required within the campus it also had a Church, two conference hall, dining room, garden, play area and a cafeteria. The students and the escort were accommodated within the campus dormitory. The dining hall was sophisticated and served homely and hygienic food.

DAY 1- 19 October 2017

(Thursday)

We started the day with Breakfast and later we were directed to the Seminar hall and we had a time of prayer and worship which was led by Rev. Dr. A. G. Augustine Jayakumar. The Devotion time was followed by Inaugural and Keynote Address by Mr. P. W. C. Davidar, IAS. Our first session was MOTIVATION by Dr. Shirmila Stanley she made known to us few important aspects of motivation:

· Motivate yourself first and then motivate others.

· If you want to help someone first look into their need.

She quoted a statement by Horace Mann "Be ashamed to die if you have not contributed to the Human Kind"

The first session was followed with a tea break and it was during this break that we interacted with other students along with a cup of tea and a piece of cake. The Second Session was Motivational FACTORS AND STRATEGIES TO CRACK THE CIVIL SERVICES EXAMS by Dr. Prateep V. Phillip, IPS. His session was brief and informative; throughout the session there were few points which motivated me the most:

· CIVIL SERVICES- a career, a calling and an honor

· Be at it – Beat it!

· Think Globally act locally

· Any civil servant should be a

· Friend of poor

· Friend of principles

· Friend of progress

· If you want to break a record keep a record.

The lunch break was from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM. At 2:00 PM the third session started and it was PROBLEM-SOLVING AND CONFLICT MANAGEMENT by Dr. Celestine Paulraj. This session was the most liked one not just by me but by everyone. He was positive, creative and most importantly interactive.

· Look at the conflict in a positive way.

· Find the root cause of a conflict.

· Support collaborating than competing.

· The connecting tool between senses and behavior is called ‘MIND'

After the session, there was time given for discussion and later was another tea break followed by the final session- Outline to the Indian Administrative Service by Dr. Venkataramanujan. He spoke to us mainly about the preparation. Important material for preparation:

· Newspapers

· Magazines- Frontlines, India Today, etc.

· NCERT textbooks

DAY 2- 20 October 2017 (Friday)

The second day also started with breakfast and later followed by devotion and then we had the fifth session MY ROLE IN NATION BUILDING by Dr. G. Sundaram, IAS. He is a senior officer, well experienced and grounded. One of the key points that he quoted was -"Never lose your values for the sake of favor or promotion." We had 15 minutes of discussion and we broke for tea and continued with our next session, SESSION VI PEACE BUILDING by Dr. Sandra Joseph. "If you want peace work for JUSTICE" was her introductory statement. She was bold and warm. After the session, we broke for lunch and we were back by 1:30 and SESSION VII was CHRISTIAN ETHICS AND HUMAN VALUES by Dr. Alfred Devaprasad. Few highlights from what he spoke:

· Start by doing your bed.

· Little things in life matter.

· If you don't love your neighbor you don't love God.

The final session for that day was EFFECTS OF SKILLS- WRITING SKILLS by Dr. Winfred Chelliah. He was a lead choir member and a professionalized speaker.

DAY 3- 21ST October 2017(Saturday)

The final day we had two sessions and we were given tips upon how to prepare for civil service examination by Dr. Susan Paul and later we were taught about GOAL SETTING AND TIME MANAGEMENT by Mrs. A. Christian Nancy. Few of the important points to be noted:

· Break your long-term goal into short-term ones.

· S - Specific

M - Measurable

A - Achievable

R - Realistic

T- Time

After both, the sessions we were also given few tips regarding effective communication by Dr. Samuel Rufus then was the time for participants' feedback and also we all were certified for attending the camp.

SITE SEEING:

On 20th Oct 2017, the session ended at 4:45 pm. We went on site seeing and visited St. Thomas Basilica a church which is built on the tomb of St. Thomas one of the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ, we chose to travel by bus to explore more of the city. The following day we went to express avenue the biggest shopping mall at the heart of the city of Chennai. The highlight of the mall was that it had an inbuilt robot called EVA attending the people helping them with their direction within the mall. We also went to Marina which is said to be a natural urban beach in the city of Chennai along the Bay of Bengal; it is one world's longest beach ranking with one. We reached the Marina at 6:30 pm and had fun in the seashore, making castle etc and shopped before leaving to the camp and the best view was the lighthouse near the beach.

HOW WAS IT BENEFICIAL TO THE STUDENTS:

1. Encouragement to the young civil aspirants.

2. It helped us in making a wise plan.

3. Meeting different students with one common goal from all over the country gave us a good

exposure.

4. Travelling and site seeing was a fun break from the regular life.

FEEDBACK FROM THE STUDENTS:

1). CATHERINE CHELSEA:

This camp adding to my leadership skills made me a more positive person and it really helped to know where I'm standing especially in my preparation for civil service examination and also to plan wise and site seeing and traveling with my mates was fun.

2). GANGOTRI:

From my perspective, this workshop was really helpful for me as a civil service aspirant. In fact, to be more specific it was an obliging one for every one irrespective of the field that they aim. The schedule of this forum was a felicitous feature. For it was a concatenation. It was also helpful in developing one's character and to understand the concept of integrity. Overall it was fruitful attending this workshop and I’m looking forward to attending many such workshops.

3). ANUSHKA:

The three-day leadership programme held in Chennai has cultivated traits such as self-reliance, and courage within me. Having being attended this session, I see myself as a more passionate, committed and optimistic individual. This trip along with my fellow mates helped me in exploring myself to the fullest.

PHOTOS:

“Prayer is a strong wall and fortress of the church; it is a goodly Christian weapon”.

– Martin Luther