My journey in Enactus

My experience in ENACTUS IIT Ropar has been quite eventful. I have been its member since its inception as SIFE IIT Ropar in January, 2012. I joined in and was handed over the responsibility as a team member of the FarmFresh Project, which focuses to remove the middlemen in the farming business and to eventually help the local farmers to have direct contacts with the end wholesale consumers. This, not only helps the farmers to have a higher profit margin but also generates the much needed self-confidence.

The project had its ups and downs when the farmers didn't agreed simply because of their ongoing practice for so many years and also because of the risk of degrading their business relations that they have with these middlemen. This needed a lot of encouragement from our side, to persuade them to give it a try and to have the basic trust in transaction.

But right now, this project is doing great and the farmers are very supportive. They have been provided with Solar Lamps at subsidized costs to improve their living standards and to indirectly strengthen their relationship with ENACTUS IIT Ropar.

When I joined the college as a 4^th year student, I was made a member of the Advisory Committee and my work included to look upon the work being done under the different ENACTUS IIT Ropar’s projects. I was also a member of the Paper Mache project, which aimed at setting up a business of paper mache and related products for the target audience. This project is also doing well.

The sheer experience and joy of being part of a live project and the satisfaction that you have when you start getting output is tremendous. I learned a lot about team work and how to present myself in different scenarios. This surely improved my self-confidence and helped me overcome my introvert nature.

Another great thing that came out of my experience with ENACTUS IIT Ropar is that it provided me a great topic to discuss with my interviewer while I appeared for CISCO’s on-campus interviews. I talked and discussed at great lengths with my interviewer about all the work that has been done for social entrepreneurship under various ENACTUS IIT Ropar’s projects. This I hope projected me as a confident and socially responsible candidate, the qualities that any employer would look for in their prospective employees.

All in all, I cherished the entire time I have been a member of ENACTUS IIT Ropar and would love to continue doing so for as long as I am a student here at IIT Ropar.

-DEEPAK SACHDEVA (advisory member)