CHENNAI: On Friday, the auditorium of Loyola-ICAM College of Engineering and Technology (LICET) was filled with cheers of applause from students and teachers who had gathered for the award ceremony, Catalysts Of Change 2023, to celebrate the student volunteers for their exceptional work. Achanta Sharath Kamal was detailing his career as a table tennis player to an exhilarated group of college students volunteering for Chennai Volunteers.
“Success or failure is just a process and both have to be dealt with in the same way. The greater good comes from thinking of ways to give back to society. Even though there are great accomplishments during my career, there is a larger sense of fulfilment when I give back to society. My work with Chennai Volunteers presented me with a platform to help underprivileged children,” he said.
The work of the Chennai Volunteers as an organisation and the involvement of students in their line of work for uplifting underprivileged students was lauded in the ceremony. The awards were given to colleges and individuals. Students of Loyola College, Justice Basheer Ahmed Sayeed College for Women (JBAS), Stella Maris College, Shri Shankarlal Sundarbai Shasun Jain College for Women, Women’s Christian College (WCC), Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology, Madras School of Social work, Anna Adarsh College for Women and Sri Krishnaswamy College for Women received the awards.
Students who displayed leadership and empathy while volunteering were awarded based on their performance in the field for different categories including excellence in teaching conversational English, exemplary volunteering cohesively and collectively, excellence in teaching financial literacy, game changer, valiant volunteer and exceptional volunteer team coordinator. The Best Virtual Volunteer Of The Year 2022 was shared by Renita from WCC and Ragavi from MOP Vaishnav College and (Best) Volunteer Of The Year 2022 was awarded to Syeda Aamina Zahra of JBAS College.
Addressing the gathering, chief guest Gangandeep Singh Bedi, principal secretary and commissioner, Greater Chennai Corporation said, “As students, you should learn the art of giving. Swami Vivekananda has taught us that service to humanity is the true worship of God. You have to do service for the community. You are here to enrich the world.”
Representing the volunteering students, Jahnavi a graduate of Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts, Pune, said, “As an organisation, Chennai Volunteers provided us with a lot of opportunities. We could volunteer without any restricted working hours and teach students the subjects in which we have more academic knowledge. It is a great platform to learn and grow.”