Sharvari Shah - Pune, Maharashtra

 

The minute I reached Asia plateau, I was mesmerized by the beauty of it. I could not quiet put my finger on what it was. Every corner of the campus radiated a sense of calmness which was soothing and very pleasant. I had never experienced anything like it before. 

It was not easy for me, to open up in front of people, as I had the fear of being judged. But as the days passed, I started feeling comfortable around these very same people. Within a span of 8 days, I could analyze myself and learned to listen to my inner voice. Let's Make A Difference made me comfortable with who I am and this has made a drastic impact on my actions.

It brought about a transformation within me. One of the activities, 'My Life, My Happiness' conducted there, made me realize how important it was to keep people that I cared about very close to my heart and stopped me from pushing them away. It made me rethink about the broken relationships that I had with my family and friends. After I came back, these broken relations haunted me, until I finally mended them with understanding, sacrifice and letting go of my ego. Realization hit me that the people I was pushing away, were in fact the ones I needed the most in my life.

The amount of time that I was wasting before the conference started bothering me after the time I spent there.  Waking up early and utilizing the day to my full capacity was refreshing. I made up my mind to continue this forward even after the conference. After interacting with the people present in Let's Make A Difference, I learned that every person had something or the other going on in their life and after listening to some of the astonishing stories, my struggles seemed petty and acceptable. The guest speaker's success stories motivated me to push myself harder and achieve things that I thought I never could.

Let's Make A Difference made me realize that even though we let go, we still try to hold on. We hold on to the hope that leads us to believe that things will change for the better and lead us to the light at the end of the tunnel, towards a better tomorrow, a tomorrow which will be brighter than the yesterday. 

Since the conference, I have seen myself grow, grow as a person. I have my ups and downs, but a constant reminder of the values taught to me at Let's Make A Difference helps me stay on track and brings out the best in me.