Last Term Break Spent Well At IIM Lucknow!

While the past 4 term breaks were spent holidaying or enjoying time away from our busy lives on campus, this last term break came with a plethora of opportunities. For some, especially ones with work experience, this was the time to secure their dream jobs in the lateral placement process. For others, there were 2 half-credit courses being offered which would commence and conclude both during the term break. The two courses namely FIRE and Experiential Learning were unique in their own capacities. Out of the two, I opted for the former.

FIRE (Forming Identities through Roles and Exploration) is a course offered by the Human Resources area at IIML. For the duration of the course, which was 3 days, we were taken to Diamond Resort on Raibareli road and housed there for the entire duration. The course dealt with pertinent questions such as 'Who am I?' to help build emotional quotient, which is essential in today's world. Through 6 hours of process work on a daily basis, we talked about past and present with the objective of learning from living.

Here’s what I learnt from FIRE:

1. In this busy world, we’re crowded with so many thoughts that we forget to get in touch with our feelings. It is absolutely important to understand what you feel and what is important to you.
2. There may be so many people that you end up judging on a day-to-day basis because you don’t agree with how they are. Each person becomes the way they are due to various things and incidents in the span of their lifetime. While it is difficult to know each person’s true story, it is still easy and possible to give people a chance. Park your judgement for a while later, and at least try to understand the person. It will definitely help you understand their actions and reactions better.
3. No matter how well you know someone, it is never enough. Such small instances end up having such a huge impact on us that we code ourselves in certain ways and try to block emotions and feelings. It’s important to face, understand and change to be able to move on in life.

While this sounds very philosophical, the course honestly changed my outlook towards people around me and more importantly, myself.

I didn't attend Experiential Learning, but on the basis of the amazing experiences of my friends who did, it would be unfair to not share the brilliant course that it was. It was a week-long trip involving a trek to Kedarkantha and rafting in Rishikesh. It was organised in association with India Hikes. Each day, various tasks were given to participants to compete to ace in groups that they had been divided in before the trek. Along the route, interesting challenges such as Race to the Top, cooking meals for a budget, etc. kept people engaged.

It felt almost necessary to share the content of these 2 unique courses. For all those management aspirants out there who end up being deterred by the seriousness and pressure of what is to follow, rest assured, there will be fun times and nonetheless, fun courses like these which without being academic or course heavy will leave you with memories and learnings for a lifetime. Just like these 2 courses seem out of the ordinary, so will most things that you experience in the 2 years and it is for you to grab the ideal opportunities when they arise and come your way. All in all, it was a term break that I spent differently, yet enjoyed extensively.