By Vishal Talreja | Co founder
Says 20 year old Kaushik who comes from a very orthodox and underprviledged family. Kaushik enrolled into Dream a Dream's Career Connect Programme and opted for the entrepreneurship programme dreaming to start his own event management company which he eventually succeeded in forming.
Please do read his story of thriving in his own words.
I am Kaushik, a 20-year-old from an orthodox family of four members. My parents are both 12th Grade drop-out and we have our own catering company. In the early stages I dreamt of becoming an engineer but due to my poor scores in Mathematics, decided to change my stream along with my dream and chose to pursue B. Com instead. Since then, there has been a desire to start my own Event Organizing Company but didn’t know the various steps to make that a reality.
While I was in college, I found out from my seniors about Dream a Dream’s Career Connect Centre in KR Puram, where I could learn basic foundational skills. The first day I came to the Centre, I was told that a batch was starting in the evening to learn Basic Computers. I didn’t know what to expect and when the sessions began, I understood that these sessions here are not like any other educational institution. Here, everyone is given a chance to explore their individuality and have the freedom to express their own feelings and opinions. I learnt life skills. Through those sessions, I realized how short-tempered I was and how I needed to change. I began to sit, reflect and analyze what led me to become angry. Possessing leadership qualities since my childhood, I felt the Centre gave me the right platform to explore and expand on those skills. From merely being a student attending sessions, I garnered the skills to facilitate a batch on my own. This was a community project called ‘My Step, My Change’, where I led a team, encouraged and coached by the Dream a Dream staff, who said that they saw a potential in me and believed that I could do it. It was for 25 days and I didn’t know this was a skill I possessed within myself, but their support made me believe in myself. My batch had 10 girls and 12 boys, and they chose ‘women harassment’ as a topic to bring about change. Their inputs and passion inspired me to do more research on this topic and we were able to exhibit a small mime as a culmination to this project in front of everyone at the Centre, during the Sankranthi celebrations.
Throughout the process, I discussed my plans with them and sought their guidance in how to design my sessions and with their help, they were executed well. The facilitators at the Centre were also happy at how I carried this project forward.
I underwent an Entrepreneurship Course at the Centre, where I learnt that there was much more to starting my own company than I had initially envisaged. To begin with, I realized how to make funders want to invest in my company and the various steps to starting one, on my own. Inspired by these sessions, I started my own informal services of event management, where I help curate small birthday parties, helping out with the venue decorations, photography and catering, helping my father’s business as well. My dream is to formally establish this one day and facilitate sessions, for no fee on how to manage an event for the students who might be interested in the same. That is how I believe I will be able to give back to society. Whatever knowledge I have, I hope to pass it on to others and help them, even if it means employing them in my company, to get more exposure and experience in this field. From my future earnings, I hope to give back a certain amount to Dream a Dream as well, to enable them to help other students like how they helped me.
Akshay, Kaushik’s good friend who is also a regular at the Centre says that he has changed so much since he joined. He felt that even though he was confident, he spoke and interacted little with everyone else. Moreover, he shared that he seemed fearful of talking with others. Ever since he joined the sessions, I can see a different side of him, whose leadership qualities helped him facilitate a great session for a batch. We connect with each other due to our similar desire to always give back to society, in any way we can.
When young individuals like Kaushik share dreams of entrepreneurship, the first thought that comes to everyone’s mind is the risk involved. By exposing young entrepreneurs like him to courses where they learn about the different steps in starting their own business or company, the facilitators are enabling them to continue dreaming big and put concrete actionable items to those dreams, which help make them a reality. By learning to hustle and start up projects on his own, in small baby steps, he is learning how to go about the business. This is thriving for Kaushik.
The Career Connect programme equips 14-23-year-olds with information, skills and access to opportunities to make a healthy transition to adulthood. We conduct career awareness workshops, run short-term modules in English, communication skills, money management, and career guidance and provide access to internships, scholarships, vocational training and jobs.
The programme is delivered from two learning Centres, based in Bangalore in India. The two most important insights that we have learnt over the years are - the first learning is that turning 18 is no guarantee that you are prepared for a career; the second is that just because you are younger than 18 and can’t get a formal job, doesn’t mean you are not expected to be the bread-winner for your family. Career Connect is focused on developing the life-skills that young people need to navigate this complex phase of adolescence and ensure they are prepared for life.
Our modules include career awareness workshops, communication skills workshops, English communication workshops, money management and career guidance. At the next stage, young people can choose various skilling programmes as per their interest and need such as Beautician, Hospitality, Painting, etc. We close the loop by providing youth access to internships, scholarships, vocational training and placement. Each of these modules are strategically categorized into
Some of the key activities completed during this period aligned to the purpose of this grant are –
o We achieved 100% of the target of the enrollment numbers in the Career Awareness Programme.
o In the Life Skill Development programme, 89% of the young people enrolled, were participating on our programme for the first time.
We have had a great year and were able to achieve all our targets we had set for ourselves. Sharing some of them with you -
Please do go through the attachement where we have captured what the young people have to say after having attended our programmes.
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