In my high school,field trips were organised every year.This field trip typically used to be 4N/5D trip.The students in my school used to be so eager for this trip as we get to be along with our peers.The kind of fun we have during those days are memorable.These are the days that we live for.
Then,I moved to an engineering college.When I got to know that my college doesn't arrange any field trips,I was upset.I wanted to do something about it.I along with my friends kindly requested the college management to arrange a field trip for us atleast in the last year of engineering.They were reluctant due to security concerns.All of us felt dejected.
I thought over it and asked myself "Why don't I take the onus upon myself to arrange a field trip for my fellow classmates?"Initially,I was worried regarding managing a set of 60 students in the teenage group.If I take up this task,I owe a lot of responsibilty to the students and their parents.Secondly,I had to ponder over the amount of planning and effort that is required to make the trip a safe and happy journey.Nevertheless,I took a bold decision in my stride to initiate the trip planning process.I asked how many of them are willing to come and asked for suggestions regarding place of visit.Finally 50 students in my class agreed to come over to this trip and we finalized the trip location as Wayanad in kerala.Then came the challenging part.
Different people carry different expectations with them.Some of them preferred going by flight and wanted accomodation in luxury hotels.Some wanted to travel by train and preferred to stay in decent budget hotels.They had their finances tight.Few people were flexible and I had no problems with them.I had to make sure that people don't miss out on this trip due to financial reasons.So,I had to keep the budget tight and convinced the other set of people to adjust with train travel and budget hotel accomodation.So,I had to frame a low cost budget to make sure everyone comes and at the same time ensure the quality was not compromised.I negotiated with the hotel manager for an affordable stay.I also looked online and struck a deal with local private bus operator for hiring a bus.I collected advance payments from students and had to reserve train tickets and hotel accomodation.I along with a few of my friends decided to put in money for those who were not able to pay in advance for reservation purposes.
One week prior to the start of the trip,few students backed out from it citing emergency and personal reasons.Few students pulled back since they were not able to obtain their parents consent.There was complete chaos all around as 10 students pulled back.The fear of cost escalation started playing in their minds as they had to bear the common expenditure among reduced no.of students.I worked out the cost escalation and said it would be around 500 per person additionally.It's not a big deal compared to the fun and memories that we're going to make from this trip.I tried to allay their fears and appealed to them emotionally saying that I worked really hard for this to happen and please don't shatter my dreams and the hardwork that I've put in to make this happen.There may not be a time in the future where we get to be along with all our friends and go for an outing.It's essential that we make use of this opportunity.I was able to hold the remaining 40 students together and we successfully completed our trip.
In the end,everyone were happy that they made it and thanked me for my coordination efforts.For me,it was a lot to take in considering the turn of events in the leadup to the trip.I had a lot of takeaways from this enriching experience and learnt about managing people and finances.It gave me immense pleasure when I watched joy in the faces of my friends during the entire span of the trip.I learnt that nothing can stop a person from pursuing his dream if he has a strong desire to achieve it.