I am me because- Vishakha Sangaonkar, IMT Ghaziabad

I am me because I fought judgement. I am me because I fought humiliation. I am me because I fought insecurity. We are the product of our past experiences. Whatever are our views,beliefs and reactions can be traced back to the experiences we had back in the day. I was a part of a very reputed Government School. Being a part of this school meant being categorized as the brighter mind. The teaching was good, facilities excellent but they lacked a very important aspect of shaping the young minds. The aspects were empathy and unbiasesness. Be it Annual Day selection, Band auditions or representation in competitions the teachers resorted to affinity based selection as opposed to talent based. As a result, I always thought I wasn't good at elocution because Miss Rose didn't like my handwriting. I thought I couldn't dance as I was not pretty enough and I couldn't be the a good singer as I didn't learn at the Music teachers private academy outside school. But outside school I made an solid attempt to hone all these skills which I think I was made for. Come high school the restrictions has shackled me for long enough. I was a rebel working on my skills day and night. I often took the plunge and started putting myself out there. I didn't let go any opportunity to persuade people to have an objective look at my skills. I talked, networked and became a go getter. Still the opportunities weren't coming my way. But I kept trying and things changed. The Affinity based selection changes to talent based and I represented my school in several events in 9th and 10th standard. It was a tough road but I feel satisfied to have sailed through. Problems continued to grow exponentially in college, graduation and at work. But I too continued to carey forward my learnings from the past and say I am be because I never gave up!