Empowering the Vision Project (ENVISION) has been holding Mission Admission Workshops for the last many years. The purpose of the Workshop as clearly stipulated by its title is to help and guide as many Tibetan high school graduate students as possible for their admissions in undergraduate studies to Delhi University (DU hereafter). Being one of the most sought after and largest Universities in India, thousands of prospective Indian students compete to get enroll at Delhi University soon after the declaration of their results by Central and State boards. Tibetan high school graduates are no different. Every year Tibetan students come to Delhi to join the rat race in the midst of Delhi’s unsympathetic and scorching heat. Many of whom having grown under the ‘protective s
chool environment’ often are those devoid of any exposure to cities as vast as Delhi. Therefore, to maze through the competitive ecosystem of Delhi University especially during the admission period and for fresh high school graduates to navigate the uphill task, Mission Admission Workshop therefore aims to ease the path for young Tibetan graduates every year.
Mission Admission Workshop 2018 was held on 24-25, June at Gyathue Mimang Hall, Majnu Ka Tilla, New Delhi by ENVISION with support from student volunteers – Students General Improvement Group (SGIG), Global Tibetan Students Union (GTSU) and President of Tibetan Youth Hostel, New Delhi. The two-day Workshop started with the first day dealing with sessions on the nitty-gritties of admission process into DU, followed by a session with Tibetan Professionals in the afternoon; second day began with an interactive session with the Deputy Dean of Foreign Students of DU, Ashutosh Bharadwaj and his team, followed by a north campus college tour and the day ended with a feedback/evaluation session.
In the morning of the first day, student volunteers led a session on admission procedures. Topics such as eligibility criteria, top colleges of DU in corresponding to concerned subjects and faculties, necessary documents to be prepared, hostel accommodation facilities, and general etiquettes of a college-going student in Delhi- challenges, opportunities and experiences – were covered. The participants had a demo run through a DU form filling practice so as to enable the participating aspirants fill the forms without any glitches at the time of the admission.
The afternoon half of the day’s workshop was led by four young and bright Tibetan professionals based in Delhi namely, Ugyen Palmo – CA at Deloitt; Pemala Bhutia Assistant Professor at Gargi College, DU; Chime Yungdrung – Advocate at Delhi High Court, and Tenzin Gyalpo – Founder, Delhi-by-Bike. The professionals through their informal interaction shepherded the participating students on various career options, provided heartfelt advises, shared lessons learnt through their personal and professional journey hitherto, and on the importance of muddling through difficult and challenging circumstances whilst pursuing one’s dreams and aspirations.
Tenzin Nyidon, a participant on the first day observed, “The session with the Tibetan Professionals this afternoon inspired me to become like them, their genuine career guidance and heartfelt advises to us was very motivating”.
An interaction with the Deputy Dean of Foreign Students at Delhi University, Dr Ashitosh Bharadwaj and his team – Dr. Namrata Srivastava and Monica was organized for the participating students in the morning of the second/last day of the Mission Admission Workshop. The interactive session with the
Deputy Dean and his team is a conscious effort with a two-fold purpose, one to let the students get informed about foreign quota application (both online/offline) procedures and two, to maintain his close attention towards Tibetan students in the years to come. The Deputy Dean and his team spoke on the importance of filling the online form meticulously and general introduction of DU. The Deputy Dean also shared the mistakes, challenges and problems (including self-created ones like attendance shortage) that students make and then enforce themselves on the doors of his office for help. He cautioned the participating Tibetan students from committing such mistakes. The interactive session with the Deputy Dean and his team was followed by a tour to north Delhi College campuses of DU. Students were divided into small groups and were taken through colleges in correspondence to their interest and curiosity. Almost all the colleges in north campus were covered during the tour.
The two-day workshop was concluded with feedback and evaluation session at Gyathue Mimang Hall. The students shared their learnings from the workshop, gave suggestions, inputs and overall evaluation of the two-day workshop. Many students found the session on admission procedures led by their seniors useful and relatable while some students found the interactive session with Tibetan professionals inspiring and motivating.
Tenzin Youdon from CST Shimla said, “The session on admission procedure was illuminating because I wasn’t aware of what are the next steps after filling the online application form. I feel assured that I am clear with the next proceedings.” Another student, Dawa Choedon expressed that she is willing to help her juniors next year as such workshops are beneficial for fresh high school graduates.
ENIVISION, as a follow up to the Workshop, along with Education Officer of the Bureau Office (DOE), and student volunteers guided the Tibetan students through admission processes at Delhi University Foreign Students’ for two consecutive days on 4-5th July, 2018. This was to ensure all our students aspiring to join DU had the necessary guidance and support and that no one was left unattended on the day of admission.
Twenty-one students were enrolled thus far in various colleges of DU like Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC), Miranda House College, Daulat Ram College, Indraprastha College for Women (IP), Hans Raj College, Rajdhani College, Khalsa College, Kamala Nehru College (KNC), Lakshmi Bhai, Bharti College, Mata Sundari etc. The form filling practice that was done at the Workshop seemed helped consume less time for the participating students while it was a straining for those who missed the workshop. However, assisting the students in processing their applications, documenting their enrollment into various DU Colleges was a productive follow-up to the Mission Admission Workshop.