Students told to develop a positive mindset to face challenges

The Hindu

17-05-2025

The Hindu EducationPlus Career Counselling 2025 was successfully organised in Bidar on Saturday.
Resource persons from diverse fields addressed students and answered their questions in the event held at the Poojya Channabasava Pattaddevaru Rang Mandir. Resource persons from the Karnataka Examinations Authority CET cell and the VTU regional centre in Kalaburagi also addressed students.
Sunil Panwar, chief conservator of forests and member-secretary of Zoo Authority of Karnataka, Mysuru, inaugurated the event. His talk focussed on personality development of youth and developing a positive mindset to face challenges in life.
'One is forced to face rejections and disappointments. But they should not lead us to dejection, anxiety or stress. Each defeat or loss should serve as a stepping stone to success and help us prepare better for the challenges to come. Only those who learn from their mistakes and failures, succeed. Their quality of life is also markedly better than those who are easily upset and lose heart,' he said.
He asked students to harness the power of positive thinking and learn to live a balanced, stress-free life.
Dr. Panwar also spoke of the urgent need for graduates of various disciplines to develop specific set of skills. 'There are studies that show that over 80% of the graduates are not employable as they do not have the skills required by the industry. Youth should resolve to acquire these skills. They should take it upon themselves to learn them and practise them, based on industrial trends,' he said.
Deputy Commissioner Shilpa Sharma held an engaging session with the students, asking them questions about their career choices and family background. She gave them real life situations that are faced by young officer in their line of duty and asked them how they would react to them.
'Don't do anything because anyone tells you. Do it only if you are convinced,' she said.
She told the students to learn as many languages as possible as it would open doors to multiple cultures and civilisations. She also asked them to pick up a hobby and art form.
When a student asked her why she chose the civil services, she said she was looking for a bigger canvas to fill. She related her UPSC journey and how she prepared for the examination. She said that she was serving with NTPC after her BTech from NIT Hamirpur, but she was not happy. She urged the students to be clear about their goal, its limitation and advantages.
'A guide to your future', The Hindu career guidance handbook was released by the guests.
Syed Sadat Pasha, UPSC coach and career counsellor of CIGMA India, spoke on the various career opportunities available in Arts, Commerce, and Science streams. He involved students in a short skit to make them realise the importance of motivation, energy and career planning.
Chartered accountant Manu Kumar Pujari spoke about the scope for commerce graduates. He quoted Prime Minister Narendra Modi who had said: 'The signature of the CA was more important than the signature of the PM'.
He told them about the various challenges in facing the CA examination and the joy gained in working as a CA.
S.B. Sangappa, national executive council member, Indian Society for Technical Education, and S. Shambhu Lingappa, regional director of VTU centre in Kalaburagi, spoke about choosing the best engineering courses and postgraduate education in engineering.
Dr. Sangappa asked students not to follow the herd mentality and to carve their own path. Dr. Lingappa spoke of the various courses offered by VTU in various campuses and the potential in emerging areas like Artificial Intelligence and machine learning. He asked them to follow their passion and not fall into the trap of courses marketed as 'trendy'.
Ramya Krishna P., CET counselling coordinator from the government polytechnic in Bidar, spoke about the seat selection process, the KEA website, and their new app.