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The course Mechanical Engineering Lab II has been one of the most intensive courses during my stay at IITGN. We were given new tasks every week and we had to present our solutions every week in front of our professor. However, in spite of having a consistent academic record, my team was underperforming for the first three weeks. Our work was rated as unsatisfactory. We scored three consecutive zeros in three weeks and realized that something was going wrong and we needed to do something about it. We analyzed our work from last week & finally figured out the mistake. The bottleneck lies in our time management skills. We were not working as a team and no group member was actually aware of the work of another group member. We then implemented a different strategy for week IV. We immediately created a to-do list once we got our project for the next week and decided to have a team meeting every alternate day so as to understand our progress in the project as a team. The change in our strategy paid off. Our project was rated the best for that week and the best part was that our professor personally mailed us asking for our prototype so as to keep it as a showpiece in his office. The experience deeply impacted me and taught me better time management skills and teamwork.
Several things make me unique and I believe that the entrepreneurial spirit in me is one of them. I had tried, tested & built three startups during my undergrad at IIT Gandhinagar before sticking into my final venture TESSERA Edu, which is a social enterprise. Moreover, my friends describe me as a person who radiates positivity and my people skills make me a phenomenal leader. They say I have the capacity of becoming the favourite person of any individual in a very short time period. I am often the one in the group who takes initiative for leading the team in group activities or projects and my peers like to work with me. I have completed my engineering degree in 7 semesters instead of 8 semesters. After my early graduation, when I worked with a startup for just two months, I was offered a PPO showing their satisfaction in the quality of work that I had delivered in a very short period of time.
One of the two students to be selected from IIT Gandhinagar in a batch of 200 for pursuing a fully funded International Internship with the R&D director of Boeing at the University of Washington. We were awarded USD 5,250 for pursuing the same. The experience was also complemented by a networking dinner with Nobel Laureates which was a promising experience and I feel was one of the biggest milestones in my career. My second biggest accomplishment is that I have secured the Institute Rank 3 in the department of Mechanical Engineering while being an active part of clubs and committees throughout my undergrad. I am also elated to share that I have been nominated for the Directors Gold/Silver Medal for Outstanding Overall Performance by my fellow batchmates for the overall achievements I have had in my career. The results for the same have not been declared yet but it would surely add to my happiness if I bag the award.
Ideally, I would like to see myself in a place where my work has a significant tangible impact on the top line of the organization that I will be a part of. Along with that, I would also like to act as a mentor for the new recruits/interns that would join my organization and help them from the experiences of my career. To add on, I would also like to see that I have made a tangible contribution to society via my social startup Tessera Edu, which is in its early stage now and tries to develop the entire education ecosystem of North East India. Hopefully, I will be able to have a positive influence on the lives of many individuals and contribute towards building my nation.
The skill or characteristic that I am most proud of is my ability to empathize with others. This has been the sole attribute that helped me maintain relationships with people from diverse backgrounds and has always increased the efficiency of the teams that I had led in the past. To support my hypothesis, I would like to quote something that my teammates posted about me in our Yearbook: "Dip has the potential to become the favourite person of every individual that he interacts with Assignments, tasks, fun activities - you manage everything. It was a lively experience working with you at IITGN, Dip"
I get overwhelmed when I read these comments every now and then and all these came my way because I could build a strong rapport with my teammates because of the single trait I possess, i.e. empathy.
I would like to highlight five major qualities that I feel are imperative for becoming a successful manager. He or she should empathize with others, possess leadership qualities & problem-solving skills, give a sense of autonomy to his subordinates and be a good team player. It benefits the team in two ways. Firstly, the work culture improves as there are no barriers in clear communication and everyone can express their thoughts without any consideration. Secondly, we as human beings actually crave freedom and it unleashes the creative mind in us. Studies have also shown that organizations that give their employees a sense of autonomy have very low attrition rates and high efficiency. Such a manager would always encourage his subordinates to think on their feet & come up with suggestions that would not be possible otherwise. Also, having strong problem-solving skills and being a team player is of utmost importance because these would help to devise strategies, set realistic targets and achieve those by active collaboration & following up with his team members.
Being a fresher, I haven't encountered an ethical dilemma in my professional career. But I would like to mention something from my personal life. I would like to quote a love story thats very close to my heart. My best friend from school fell in love and they have been in a relationship for 5 years. Everything was going great until I discovered that he was cheating on his girlfriend. I have known her personally and we have lived as a family during my vacation days. She has been very close to me like my sister and it was my responsibility to tell her the truth. I decided to tell her the truth. However, my conscience brought me back to all the bad days in my life when I was depressed, the only person behind me was my best friend. He has been a friend, philosopher and guides for me since the 8th standard and now, if I want to speak the truth in front of his girlfriend, the consequences would be fatal. I would lose a true friend from my life. Hence, I kept myself from telling her the truth as she never asked me anything! But yes, I will never lie if she asks me anything to my face someday. Probably, God didn't want them to stay together either. Eventually, after a few days, she discovered what he was doing. She was shattered and wanted to leave him. My friend realised his mistake and apologized to her and asked for one more chance from her. She did give him a chance and now it appears that he is a changed man(at least to me). If he has really changed, something good has actually happened because I compromised on my ethics a few days back. I didn't lose a true friend & didn't become the reason behind a painful breakup.