Young Social Development Goals Leadership Program and Internship with United Nations Global Compact Network India (UNGCNI):
The citizens of a democratic country are given the responsibility to elect the government and the government in turn is given the powers to run a county. This indirectly meant that the citizens can either misuse this immense power that has been given to them or choose it wisely. But how can they choose wisely when they don’t have the necessary medium and resources to make a wise decision. The education system in India only focuses on providing theoretical knowledge and ignores any practical learning which might help them to make informed decisions in the future. I was fortunate enough to stumble across the SDGs (social development goals). Upon researching, I found an opportunity where I would be able to make a policy recommendation to the UNGCNI (United Nations Global Compact Network India) regarding any SDG I wished to. For that I would need to go through a vigorous process of presentation and selection. I wanted to create an impact in the field of education and I enrolled for the program. I developed a project idea titled “Social Responsibility '' where I aimed to introduce social responsibility as a subject in the education boards of India by enabling each student to work on and document one SDG project every year. I proposed their idea to be examined and graded just like any other subject would. I suggested the idea of a pilot test before implementation of the idea on a national level. My idea impressed the judges and I was one of the 10 students out of the 200 applicants who got selected to make a policy recommendation to the UNGCNI. My policy recommendation would include a detailed plan of action regarding my idea based on SDG 4 and could be considered for further deliberation and implementation by the Indian Government if it is approved by the UNGCNI.
Ashoka Summer School
I attended Ashoka University’s Summer Program 22nd May to 26th May 2023. I vividly remember sitting in the large lecture hall at Ashoka University’s Summer School, closely paying attention to the lecture on the future of drone warfare. It blew my mind when I heard that one small drone could do the job of hundreds of intelligent agents and gun machinery. That was the first time when I was exposed to the liberal way of learning. Never before had I explored the interconnectedness of subjects like economics and warfare. Whenever someone asked me what subjects I’d like to study at college, I did not have an answer to that. Initially, I thought that I had not explored my interests in one particular subject. It was only at that instant I realised I did not have an answer to that question because there was no “single” subject that I wanted to study. That summer night, I felt a sense of calm; I started recalling all the incidents where I had applied the knowledge of different subjects and enjoyed it. Be it the application of my technical knowledge while deliberating on the data privacy bill in a model UN conference or implementing the learnings of the book “How to Win Friends and Influence People” in the student council of my school: I realised that everything is interconnected. My approach towards learning changed. My active participation in the sessions led everyone (500 students) to know my name by the end of the summer school. 500 people clapped for me whenever I said something out loud. Everyone also knew me by my dance and singing performance at the talent night, and my funny nature. I never knew that I had it in me to be liked by so many people. This summer school taught me that I have a whole new Siddhant waiting to come out and show himself to the entire world. He just needs the right environment and new opportunities to explore himself. I walked out of the main gate at Ashoka on 26th May 2023 with increased confidence and high self-esteem.
