I joined ISAC because I realized that just doing studies at university is not enough.
I wanted to in university develop myself to become a leader and I have always been very
passionate about travelling and seeing the world.
And I joined ISAC because of the international aspect and of that there is a global organization
and I would be able to interact with a lot of different people from different cultures.
ISAC was kind of the original traineeship program.
We started the traineeship program in 1948 when no one was thinking about traineeships
at all.
So we were way ahead of the curve and I think we're still ahead of the curve in the sense
that we're not just any longer only a traineeship program.
Companies have found that talent is the way to get best business results and an ISACer
with the qualities of hunger to deliver results, urge to learn and develop and at the same
time be internationally minded is something that companies value a lot.
Yeah I mean everyone has kind of their own particular choices that they have to make.
I mean for me there was no way that I could have got the experience I got in the past
six years in a corporate environment.
Yes a job that we may take along with you during our university years or just after
may pay you at that time but the opportunity to learn and the scope of exploring what is
in your mind, things that you want to try out to put you in a leadership position at
this young age is not something that a job right out of the university will probably
offer.
I think over time I joined because ISAC was big and important and networks all over the
world.
I think I stayed because ISAC was able to actually have an impact on me.
From this path to this path.
My mom always used to tell me that why is spending so much time for something that is
not even paying you back and I always used to say that I'm sure one day it will pay
me back and today she has accepted that yes it is paying you back.
The funny thing is with ISAC it all depends on you.
You can get as much out of it as you want, it all depends on how much you put into it
but a lot of people once they found a bit more about ISAC and how it works you get hooked.
There's the professional aspect to that where basic skill development in almost every area
in terms of managing teams and making people and achieving results and thinking about strategy
and facilitating large conferences.
The experience you get in ISAC is completely unparalleled as far as I'm concerned in terms
of any other.
There are several skills and several qualities that ISAC has acquired widely in ISAC and
these are soft skills, leadership skills, there's an area of other skills like team
management, problem solving, strategy building, leading and organization, public speaking
for example and these are skills which are invaluable today in the employment market.
And then there's also the personal kind of growth side in terms of learning a lot about
myself, about my strengths, about my weaknesses, about what values I have and what I want to
do for and in the world, what I enjoy most, what type of work gives me a sense of meaning
and passion.
That has clicked with me in ISAC is, one is the opportunity to network.
We all know that in today's world, in the fast-moving globalizing world, it is important
to have the right to get there, it is important to know the right people and through ISAC
we do end up not only in your own city, not only in your own country but around the world
and that network is invaluable.
Secondly, it is an environment which exposes you to international and global issues that
you learn about what's going on around the world and last but not the least, it's a lot
of fun to be in ISAC.
ISAC is unknown to work hard and play harder, party harder.
The best thing about ISAC to me is the flexibility, the opportunities which you are free to access
by yourself, you share with your good friends, the other members of the organization what
you have intentions to do and they just give you so much support.
It's an opportunity where I can treat ISAC as a test playground for what I learn in the
books and at the same time make people from around the world and learn from them and make
friends by the end of the day.
I think the combination of the personal growth, the professional growth and just the sense
of success.
People are different and ISAC is not an organization which tries to make everyone alike rather it
is an organization which appreciates everyone's differences, it recognizes you for who you
are.
I think if I conceive of ISAC, I conceive of ISAC as a space that people go into and
play around in when they are in there based on what they want to do with their lives and
what goals they have, what they feel they need to learn, what they enjoy doing.
Anyone who is interested and wants to know more about leadership and being in an environment
where there are leadership opportunities, then ISAC is a place to be.
Yes, it is an incredible diversity of ISAC but there are some kind of common threads that
people go through to become who they are and they want to go everywhere they want to.
