January 7, 2011
Amritapuri Campus
Engineering, medicine, basic sciences, arts … the options are many. After completing their high school studies, what are students to choose for their college studies?
Helping them answer this question was Amrita’s first residential camp, Sahavasa. The two-day camp attracted over a hundred participants, mostly Standard X and XII students and their parents from across India.
Free for all participants, the camp included a blend of key note speeches, training sessions, workshops and interesting games designed to help identify the latent talent in the young students.
“We feel that it is our responsibility to bring awareness to students and their parents about the immense possibilities available in the area of higher education today,” stated Br. Anand Shenoy, Admission Coordinator, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham.
“Before seeking admission to any professional program, students should seek to identify their innate talents, interests and capabilities. Parents should support their children in this endeavor.”
Speaking to the students and their parents over the course of the two days were Prof. B. S. Warrier, educational columnist, Prof. K. Babu Joseph, former VC, CUSAT and Prof. Girija Vallablan, International School of Photonics, CUSAT.
Amrita’s Dean of Engineering, Prof. M. P. Chandrasekharan, also conducted interactive sessions with the participants.
Dr. Bhagavathy, former HoD, Department of Psychology, Government Women’s College, Trivandrum helped conduct an aptitude test for students while Prof. Chandraprasad Sreedhar, formerly professor at the Institute of Management in Government, Trivandrum spoke on the topic, Choosing a Profession.
“Now we feel more confident in guiding our children,” informed Rajeev C. K., who traveled from Wayanad to attend the camp with his daughter.
Nayanthara and Harsha, who came from Mananthavady, were looking for more details in the area of aeronautical engineering and the medical field. They shared, “When we came here, we had some idea of our interests, but now we return with a clear idea of what we would like to do in the future.”
In addition to learning from successful role models from various walks of life, participants had the opportunity to interact with like-minded young people.
The success of the camp was obvious from the excellent feedback received. Most participants requested including more number of days in the camp, when conducting it next time.
One of the many written acknowledgments the organizers received after the event came from N. T. Nair, Chief Editor, Executive Knowledge Lines. He wrote, “Your program was well conceived, planned with attention to detail and executed with clockwork precision and care. Above all, it was received very well by students and their parents.”
