16 Jun 2021
Report on “BEING YOU: A journey to building self-esteem and confidence”
School of Architecture, REVA University
Subject: 2 Credits Certification Course
Agenda: “BEING YOU: A journey to building self-esteem and confidence”
Platform: Microsoft Team
Dates: 16th June 2021 to 19th June 2021 (4 Days)
Time: 09:30am to 04:00pm
Participants: 35 Students, 2nd Semester, School of Architecture
Conducted by: Asst. Prof. Divya Hemantharaj
As part of the curriculum, a two-credit certification course “BEING YOU: A journey to building self-esteem and confidence” was conducted for the second semester students over a period of 4 days.
“BEING YOU” as the course name suggests, the main intention of this course was to enhance the student’s ability to be and express themselves for who they are. A varied subject of interest as compared to the usual architectural learning, was indeed delightful for the students to learn and take away knowledge and skills for their everyday being.
The course spanned over four days, with two sessions conducted daily. A combination of lectures and discussions/interaction was planned.
16th June 2021
Day 1 Session 1: “Introduction to Happiness & Hacks”
Day 1 Session 2: “All about Laughter”
Day one focused on what the student’s idea was on happiness, how laughter is important in daily lives, discussion & interaction with all the students was done. How to hack into the happy hormones on daily basis and the benefit of laughter. The sessions individually were summed up with a Happiness Questionnaire and their definition of happiness. What is their current playfulness quotient and laughter quotient was, to understand where they stand w.r.t these aspects and what can be done to enhance it.
17th June 2021
Day 2 Session 1: “Confidence – Resilience Building”
Day 2 Session 2: “Mindfulness - Body Language – Rapport Building”
Day two’s focus was on “Self Esteem & Confidence”. A lecture on confidence and resilience building was delivered. Followed by detailed interaction to understand positive confidence and where they lack, summarizing it with what best to be done in situations to tackle it. Followed with tasks and exercises the entire day to break into the shyness and overcome their inhibitions, such as “How comfortable are they in their own skin” – to click a selfie just as is and to share it with everyone. Mindful test to assess how much in the present they are, along with exercises to make them aware of the present moment.
A lecture on body language and rapport building leading to an activity where break out rooms were created for interaction with each other and breaking the ice and inhibitions about any judgements. Some found this activity to be effortless, whereas some took their time. Overall, everyone enjoyed the activity assigned, also getting to know their friends better.
To overcome their confidence of speaking, one minute speech of their choice was assigned.
18th June 2021
Day 3 Session 1: “Anxiety - Stress”
Day 3 Session 2: “Strength Awareness (Personality Development)”
Day three was based on the topic Anxiety – Stress - Strength Awareness, in today’s pandemic times and classes shifting online this was a must address to the students. A lecture on anxiety, stress along with how to break the cycle was delivered. An exercise on what bothered them in the present moment and how to deal with the situation was conducted. Take away was that, it can be used in any situation to overcome issues. A stress questionnaire was assigned to analyze it.
Strength awareness was focused on their strength building for their personality and to find their unique traits. An exercise each to find their personality strengths and the “Unique Portrait” was assigned to each.
19th June 2021
Day 4 Session 1: “Self- Time Management.”
Day 4 Session 2: “Goal Setting - Vision & Decision Boards”
Day four concentrated on managing themselves and time. Guided the students through what happens in 24hrs of our lives, and how to manage their tasks within the day – along with a matrix to prioritize work and studies. An activity in groups of 4 to assess their scores, to share and discuss what are the solutions and implementation to be done henceforth from this course.
The last session concluded with Goals and goal setting and creating vision and decision boards for themselves.
Overall, these four days were packed with making the students understand and analyze and become aware of their authentic selves. The exercises and activities were planned in a way to bring out the uniqueness and help them break the ice about any inhibition for their self-esteem and confidence from each student. And plenty of knowledge to take home to manage themselves better. These four day has also given me insights into each ones strengths and understand the students better.
It was indeed a delight and honor to be given this opportunity to conduct this for the students. I would like to thank the Director Vidya Srikanth for trusting me and supporting me through this.
