party planning: a noble affair

Party planning: A Noble Affair

In term 2, I opted to be the student life council representative for my section. Truthfully, I did it because a) I thought it would add color to my cv and b) I was under-confident that I would not get into the core councils of any of the key clubs (namely consulting club). So since the position was uncontested, I thought, why not. Besides after a week of hearing that one should step out of their comfort zone, I think I got somewhat brainwashed as well.

So how was the experience? Again, the harsh truth—painful. Stepping out of ones comfort zone is immensely uncomfortable, to say the least! I found myself organizing cake after cake for birthday after birthday that would fall very unstrategically on days before exams. I could almost never get sleep the night before a party since there were n number of things that could go wrong and the thought of 50 odd unsatisfied section mates, who were unhappy primarily because I couldn’t manage to throw a good event together was extremely nerveracking. Being responsible for ensuring that enough people participated in section sports was also hard since I myself am least interested, note uneducated, in sports!

But, the feeling when a party went off well or when I turned on my computer and was inundated with thank you mails was truly unbeatable. I still remember this one time when I organised a cake for a section mate’s birthday and there was a great turnout (he had a lot of friends) and he said “this is my first birthday away from my family thanks a lot guys”. Damn, it felt good!

All I know is that event management is perceived to be a not so prestigious profession. Definitely not in the ranks of say social work, or being a doctor. But all in all, you do get to make a difference, a non-monetary difference. You do get to elevate emotions and maybe make someone’s day. Or enable someone to go home with a couple more happy memories to fight the drudgery of their mundane lives!

So here is to you student life council, thanks to you, someone will have a story to narrate about the first time they drank at an ISB party or the first time they kissed a boy on the dance floor or the first time they really truly let their hair loose! J