One of the most interesting stages that life has to offer is that it gives you an opportunity to explore yourself, and one such phase is the ‘college phase.’ Life at college is the time when the students take a dive, deep into the ocean of new beginnings and possibilities. This golden period equips you with all the essential tools for most, if not all, the challenges one shall face in life and creates a strong foundation of knowledge. My experience at MERI has taught me one fundamental thing – life is unpredictable. It might be good, it might be bad, or both and it might be possible that it will not interest you, but expect only one thing from which is that anything can happen. College life prepares you for all of this; it is a blend of joy and hardships that is similar to what life later has to offer. You meet and interact with different people, you learn about their cultures and their experiences without actually walking their path in their shoes, which helps you to grow as a person. You will understand how to talk to different people understanding their views, thus helping you with important life skills.

One habit that I have inherited from my parents is to be mindful of what’s happening in my country and in the world. I always liked making people aware of the issues which they might have not read elsewhere either because they were lazy or they see it as something which is boring and irrelevant. Recently, I have started developing a skill of making people aware of the atrocities that the country is facing disguising it as a joke, which is usually termed as ‘black comedy’, upon learning that comedy attracts the attention of the people and this can be used as a method to direct the attention towards the issues.

 I never got to try it on anyone except on my friends as I had always been shy and awkward around new people, and this required me talking/performing in front of a crowd. However, when “LAKERMESSE 2K19”, the cultural fest of MERI, was organized it completely changed the entire scenario for me. I had signed up under the category of ‘Stand-Up Comedy’ and began working on my script because I wanted to keep it original and with actual information that I was planning on delivering. The day of the event I got cold feet and decided to back out as the other performers were performing really well on the stage and I thought to myself that it was worthless trying it in front of a large a crowd as they might laugh at me rather than laughing at my jokes. The moment I spoke my mind to my coordinators Mrs. Navneet Kaur Popli and Mr. Paramjot Singh, who are also the faculty members in the college, they encouraged me and motivated me to get on the stage and give it a try telling me that there is no shame in failing. I believed them as they were aware of my script and went on the stage to perform. It took me few seconds to calm myself down and had a smooth performance on the stage with the crowd laughing at the right time and applauding on the issues that I made them realized along with the solutions. It took me some time, but somehow, I managed to overcome my anxiety and stage fright while exploring something new in me. I secured 2nd position in the event, and my content was appreciated by the judges. This wouldn’t have been possible without the push I got from the faculty members and the amazing staff of MERI.

The investment in tall buildings and large campuses doesn’t make a good college. It’s the investment in students by the college that counts and constitutes a good college for the inspiring students which MERI surely does.

Saamir Ahmad,
MBA 2018-20,
MERI Group of Institute New Delhi