It was the month of September and I was attending my regular classes. When one day, I got an offer to be the Head of human resources in my university’s official technical fest. I couldn’t believe my ears. My brain stopped. This was my shot, I wondered. All my college life, I participated in different events, hosted a few of them as well. But this, this was something huge. A responsibility, that I was waiting for so long. In a university with a strength of nearly 5000 students, and they chose me to be the HR Head. I immediately said yes. Soon as I signed the “Declaration Form”, my job began. From the very next day, I started getting orders from the President to write applications, for the basic requirements for the commencement of the work. All my life, I never wrote this much applications, that I wrote in a two-month span. The stress on everybody’s face, the tension in the environment, the trouble, the struggle. I learned how things are handled and managed. I used to run here and there in the entire premise for some sort of work, all day. Everybody would come to me with their problems and I used to solve them anyhow. The president and the secretary would come up, to me and yammer about some issues and I used to handle them. I got yelled at, multiple times. But I used to take it as an opportunity to work even more efficiently. I learned, that to get things done, you need to work smart, rather than work hard. Yes, there were times, when I used to break down into tears when things weren’t falling into places. I used to come back home late in the evening when it got really dark. My mother used to yell at me, but, I knew, I had to work. At home, I used to make a list of tasks for the next day. I wrote tons of emails for requirements to the higher authorities. I used to attend the meeting conducted by the “Dean of student welfare” and note down the tasks to be done before the next meeting was scheduled. It was my duty, to check if everybody is doing their work or not. There were times when I used to lose my temper, but I managed to stay silent, instead of yelling at juniors. And finally, the judgment day arrived. Hours of work, tons of applications and sleepless nights, paid off. Smiling faces of students were like a treat to the eyes. The people who made fun of us and yelled at us patted on our shoulders after seeing the outcomes. There were a lot of things I learnt while being the HR.
Hours of waiting, in front of the Vice Chancellor’s office, taught me, how to be patient.
Getting yelled at, every now and then, taught me, never to lose my temper, no matter what.
When the things were falling apart, I learned how to stay calm and get things done. All the work and responsibility made me a better person. I consider it as one of the best experiences of my life.
- Prachi PAndey
