Closing Ceremony of Ashoka Lodha Genius Programme
In my last post, I talked about the Science Projects I had taken part in at Ashoka University’s Lodha Genius Programme (LGP). I want to talk today about the Closing Ceremony. It’s been 2 weeks since LGP came to an end, but not a day goes by that I don’t miss being at the campus, going to the Math Problem Solving sessions, attending Great Ideas Seminars, working on my Science Projects and spending time with all the fantastic friends I made there. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great to be back home after a month, yet I cannot emphasise enough the wonderful experience I had attending Ashoka LGP.
It was a great opportunity — and I learned about managing my schedule, making decisions, taking care of myself, also meeting new friends from all over the country and challenging myself every day. At first, I thought a month would be very long, but towards the end, it turned out to be too little time. The time spent at Ashoka was a rollercoaster in its true essence, a struggle and cakewalk all at once. I’ve made so many new memories, I’ve grown more confident, become independent, and had a productive summer break too.
The Closing Ceremony is one event that I will remember specifically, not just for the completion certificates, but also for the sense of accomplishment and pride we all felt, the experiences we shared and the fun messages we wrote on each others’ shirts. Dr (Vijay) K VijayRaghavan mentioned in his remarks that LGP was a “daring, difficult experiment”, and the project presentation quality was perhaps at par with an undergraduate degree level. He motivated us to become world experts in our project areas. We then had students come up and talk about their experiences from the programme and many mentioned that it had been a life-changing, amazing experience. Some of the undergraduate Teaching Assistants commented that the high school students had brought life to the campus, with our long hours of work and participation in Open Mics and DJ Nights.
I’m so grateful to have been chosen to attend this, and I’ve spoken about this enough to have run out of words. Thank you, Dr K. Vijay Raghavan, Dr Somak Raychaudhury, Dr Pramath Raj Sinha, Dr Anupama Ambika Anilkumar and Lodha Genius Programme for this opportunity! The only thing I can say now is that I can’t wait to go back next year.