By Biljith PB

After my graduation, I was seeking a job. At that time, I saw an advertisement in a newspaper for CREST (Centre for Research and Education for Social Transformation). The advertisement described a five-month diploma course aimed at graduates. I applied and was invited for an interview. Fortunately, I was selected, despite not knowing much about the program while applying for it. I met an alumnus of CREST and he spoke to me at length about the program and I became interested in it. Throughout my academic career, I had never been provided with such wonderful facilities that I had seen at CREST. So, I decided to join the course.

             Even during my first week at CREST, I understood that the program would profoundly influence each student’s life. I was still curious about the program and it became demanding immediately. The second day, we participated in an ice-breaking session and it really broke the ice. The session was exciting and it was full of games and fun. This session created a bond between all of the students. Suddenly, people who had been unknown to each other before became good friends. I think every institution should adopt this technique and conduct ice-breaking programs before beginning academic programming.

Our second week, we met interns from Canada. They were Sydney, Sara, Shannon and Sam. Their internship was just finishing and they left that same week, except Sam. He stayed one more week and within that short time we became good friends. There were very helpful mentoring sessions with him. Two new interns, Alison Read and Alice Morrison from U of T, arrived that same week. During their internship, they conducted workshops on a broad range of global issues. Aside from CREST’s faculty, the student interns played an important role in our course. Eventually, we were improving our communication and language skills while speaking with them.

After one and a half months at CREST, I gained admission to a MSc. program and decided to leave. Even during my short time at CREST, I learned so much from my classes and the faculty. I improved in many fields, most significantly, in communication skills, and got a clearer idea about the job market and the possibilities for graduates in my field. Just as its name claims, CREST is really transforming our society in many good ways. I am really lucky to have been at CREST and I hope to go back there after my post-graduate studies.