I come from a technical background with zero influence in the world of business. But I have a knack to understand this world better which is what has sparked my interest and is driving me to learn more and achieve my dream. Working with Dr. Radka Newton in the Good Place Innovators team came to me as a blessing. Working on various projects like the Lancaster BID and the Edujam’2022 truly changed me as a person.

I have never truly interacted directly with an established firm apart from our family business. But the Lancaster BID provided me the opportunity to learn how to conduct myself and ask the right questions. I also learnt that, in this case it was very essential to play the mediator but silently where we provoked students to speak their minds and also help the business to get question that directed the conversation in the direction. This helped the businesses also to gain a judicious understanding of what we expect from them and bring the University closer to the Town.

We as a team delved more into the available recommendations to enhance and turn them into feasible options for the future actions. It was really fascinating to see how the collaboration between the researchers and the Lancaster BID manager improved the initial ideas and led to generating more practical ideas and next steps. We are all super excited to witness the changes our ideas can initiate and are proud of ourselves to help make contributions to the city we now call home.

Coming to the EduJam’2022 that was held at the V&A, Dundee, the theme was CHOICE. Through this event I acknowledged that making a choice is only difficult because we always think of the future consequences and not the present problem. The day we learn to make a choice based on the situation and what is truly us is that it leaves no room for regret. The extremely insightful talks by renowned people like Birgit Mager, Andy de Vale & Adam Lawrence truly ignited a spark in us to appreciate the process more than the destination. I learnt how sometimes all we see isn’t what it actually is. We need to push ourselves that little bit more to dwell deeper and understand the actual underlying cause for the problem instead of assuming and providing solutions.

We further learnt that when making conversation it is extremely helpful to ask questions that don’t answer with just a yes or a no. It needs to provide us with more information and get the other person to start talking more about their experiences. Such simple elements make a big difference when applied into our daily lives.

We finally learnt how to bring our ideas to life. We were made to get into a creative zone and visualize all the tiny aspects of the scenario at hand and put on paper and into prototypes. This truly made me realize that you don’t have to be the artist but just be true to what you feel about things to change it to reality.

All of these learning are somethings I will carry with me almost as strong as principles of life. They have helped change my perspective and the thought line. Imbibing these into my day to day routine has genuinely pushed me to having a more optimistic approach towards life. Thank you!