I have been a member of Ladakh GC for 2 years now. I initially joined after having been to Ladakh for my grade 9 expedition, where we visited the Lamdon School, who we currently work with. I am currently Co-Chair of Ladakh GC, alongside my good friend, Mehak Parwani.
I think being part of this GC really encourages me to improve my collaboration skills. Not only must I work amongst all members of the group, listening to their ideas and eventually working towards developing the Lamdon School, I’m also trying to establish contact with the GC in the Dover campus. I think it’s very easy to collaborate with both groups. On one hand, all members of the GC are passionate towards raising money to improve the life of the children in the school, so they’re always involved with the GC’s needs; on the other hand, I have some personal connections with the leaders of the GC in Dover, as we spent nearly 20 days together during the expedition, so we can build an inter-campus GC connection. Moreover, having a co-chair by my side is really beneficial for me personally as Mehak is very outspoken, so even if I’m a little hesitant to speak during the meetings, the needs of the GC aren’t affected at all. I think having a key leadership position in the GC will really help me become a better communicator as in the future we are holding a ball for the parents, and in order to run that smoothly, I’ll have no choice but to delegate tasks with confidence and amplitude.
I think it’s very easy for me to be motivated for the GC due to my personal connection. When we visited the Lamdon School, we had the opportunity to play games with the kids and sit in classes to see what life at the school was really like. I think because of these activities, I created a bond with some of the little children there, so every Tuesday lunchtime, I walk into the room, aspiring to maintain this connection.
Unfortunately, there are some visible challenges regarding our GC. From last year itself, the leadership wasn’t very effective- in fact, we didn’t even have one major event where we either earned a lot of money or raised awareness. I think this attitude may be difficult to change in some of the members who have carried on being a member of this GC. My Co-chair and I have only led the service one time so far (the week before October break started). I think during the next few sessions, we should really set a few ground rules on how the GC will be run this year, so we won’t have any problems in the future with any other member’s attitude. Anyway, because of the lack of fundraising, Ladakh GC East is very dependent on Dover to sustain us, so I plan to arrange a skype call with the chairs at Dover, to see ways in which we can feasibly improve, in order to actually make an impressions of the lives of the children at Lamdon School.
