I have always been more comfortable with ideas than with rooms full of people. So when I signed up to volunteer at the university fair, I was not entirely sure what I was walking into. My task was simple: escort delegates, set up stalls, manage the flow of students who came in and left, sometimes, with the vague idea of a future they had not considered before. There was nothing glamorous about it. But I have come to believe that the unglamorous things teach the most–and this was no exception.

LO1 – Identifying Strengths and Areas for Growth

I went in thinking I knew what I was good at: staying calm, being hospitable and communicating clearly. What I did not expect was to discover the limits of those things. I can interact with people confidently in one-on-one moments, but managing crowd flow during peak hours–when fifteen students wanted to go in three different directions–asked for something more challenging than usual. I learned that confidence and decisiveness are not the same thing, and that the first does not automatically produce the second. I learnt what it meant to keep an event running for a long time, catering to 5 different needs from different stalls at the same time and collaborate with other volunteers for seamlessness that transcends beyond individual comfort. These experiences are something I now know to work on for growth.

LO6 – Engagement with Issues of Global Significance

There is something worth noticing in the fact that an entire fair had to be organized to tell Indian students about Indian universities. We have built institutions that are genuinely excellent, and yet the assumption is still that the best option is abroad. I do not think that assumption is always wrong, but I do think it goes unexamined more often than it should. Being part of an event that seemed to challenge that, even in a small logistical way, gave me sense of redirection and helped me engage with a pressing issue in our own community. India’s higher education system is vast and uneven, and students navigating it deserve more information, not less. That is what the fair was trying to give them.

LO7 – Recognize and consider the ethics of actions and choices

I did not expect to think about ethics at a university fair. But there is something about being given a responsibility in a formal setting, even a small one, that makes you aware of how your choices affect other people. When I was late to escort a delegate, I saw them standing somewhere confused. When I accidentally gave a student the wrong directions, they missed something. Nothing dramatic happened, but the possibility was always there. I think I had always treated reliability as a personality trait rather than a choice you make repeatedly, in small moments, for other people’s sake. This experience made it feel more like the latter.