It's time to delve into the memory lane and remember a time when yours truly was a college fresher in his teens. It was a lazy weekday afternoon and I had no choice but to look forward to the Physics class which was up next on the schedule. Just when the class was about to begin my good friend Vikram burst in.
"JJ come, we gotta participate in What's the Good Word Contest"
"Vik What? What in the royal hell is What's the Good Word Contest?"
"I don't know but we will know everything once we get there."
Although I wasn't in love with Physics I found no fun in flexing my brain muscles at some random contest either. But when you have a friend who is almost 4 inches taller than you are and broader in every sense of the word you don't have much of a say. Before I could say 'No', Vikram had already dragged me out of the class. On my way out I muttered a feeble excuse to my Physics professor who glared at me as though I was running away with his daughter.
Once we got there, I found that we were the only team from the first year competing with 15 other teams. So there we were barely out of junior college competing with seniors who were ready to squash us like a tomato can. While I was berating myself for being there, Vikram went about finding the rules of the contest. The rules were in fact pretty simple:
1. Two members of the same team would be allocated different rooms.
2. Contestants in each room would receive 10 words and would have 15 minutes to come up with clues for their team mates to guess the words they received. For Example: If 'Happy' was one of the words I received, I could probably describe it as 'The state of being content' for Vikram to guess the word. Writing the word itself as part of the clue would result in points being deducted.
3. After 15 minutes, the papers with the clues would be exchanged between the rooms and the contestants would have another 15 minutes to decipher each other's clues.
4. At the end of the designated time, the top 6 teams which deciphered the maximum number of words would make it to the finals.
The unique rules of the contest brought me out of my sulking mood. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to try something new, and also hone my vocabulary. We had nothing to lose and were also playing to our strengths (Vikram and I were particularly good at English). I silently thanked Vikram for pushing me to compete and jumped head along into the contest. After the contest we compared our results and found that each of us were able to guess 5 of the 10 words the other received. With our total score at '10' we really thought we had a chance to make it to the finals but when the result arrived we didn't make it.
Although the result was a setback, it didn't bother us at all. We were in fact proud of our effort and one of the organizers confirmed that our score was in fact very close to the cut off. We walked away from the contest with a smile but little did we realize then that the spirit of competition which touched us that day, would stay with us forever. That spirit encouraged us to take part in a number of contests all throughout our four years of engineering. That spirit lifted me when my academic results slumped. If I competed as much as I did later on during my tenure in Toastmasters, it's probably because of that spirit which engulfed me on that day.
'What's the Good Word?' not only made me a contestant but also brought out the organizer in me. In the third year of my engineering, my English Professor encouraged me to organize the very same 'What's the Good Word?' contest and I immediately jumped at the opportunity. We saw a rousing response that year with more than 30 teams taking part. I felt this was the perfect chance to tighten the rules and create a level playing ground for everyone. I strengthened the rules to prevent contestants from passing wild cards as clues for the words they received. For Example: If you received 'Happy', you couldn't pass on a clue like H___Y or H (5) to your team mate. The clue had to be a meaningful sentence about the word.
I also introduced '*' words which if deciphered would not only yield more marks to teams but would also be used to resolve tie-breaks between them. Eight teams made it to the finals that year and the final round was a crossword puzzle where the teams had to wade through a set of clues before the winner was crowned. That year when the winners were receiving their awards on stage my heart swelled up with pride. I for myself never won the contest but I had the good fortune of organizing one where learning triumphed over everything else.
Every memorable journey starts on a good day but for me my journey into the professional world started with a good word. To be precise it started with 'What's the Good Word?'. The contest started my transformation from a shy, timid teenager to a confident man who believed in his own abilities. I learnt to base the result of any contest on the learning I gained from it and not on whether I won or lost. Above all I understood any hobby, skill or craft you take up with focus tends to have a positive impact on other aspects of your life. Active competition helped me improve my analytical and communication skills to an extent that I not only passed out of my engineering with a campus placement but also aced competitive exams such as GRE and GMAT. So in many ways what's the good word contest was the turning point which nudged my life in the right direction.
So my dear friends I have a question for you now "What is the good word that will kick start your journey or be the turning point for you?" Think about it, the magic that you seek to reinvigorate your life might well be within you, all you need is a friend like Vikram to give you a nudge in the right direction. Vikram wherever you are "Thank you brother!". I hope this blog gives you that positive nudge which Vikram once gave me. May your journey towards your career aspirations and a great life start with these good words "All the Very Best!".
Until Next Time,
Your Friend,
J.J. Chaitanya
"JJ come, we gotta participate in What's the Good Word Contest"
"Vik What? What in the royal hell is What's the Good Word Contest?"
"I don't know but we will know everything once we get there."
Although I wasn't in love with Physics I found no fun in flexing my brain muscles at some random contest either. But when you have a friend who is almost 4 inches taller than you are and broader in every sense of the word you don't have much of a say. Before I could say 'No', Vikram had already dragged me out of the class. On my way out I muttered a feeble excuse to my Physics professor who glared at me as though I was running away with his daughter.
Once we got there, I found that we were the only team from the first year competing with 15 other teams. So there we were barely out of junior college competing with seniors who were ready to squash us like a tomato can. While I was berating myself for being there, Vikram went about finding the rules of the contest. The rules were in fact pretty simple:
1. Two members of the same team would be allocated different rooms.
2. Contestants in each room would receive 10 words and would have 15 minutes to come up with clues for their team mates to guess the words they received. For Example: If 'Happy' was one of the words I received, I could probably describe it as 'The state of being content' for Vikram to guess the word. Writing the word itself as part of the clue would result in points being deducted.
3. After 15 minutes, the papers with the clues would be exchanged between the rooms and the contestants would have another 15 minutes to decipher each other's clues.
4. At the end of the designated time, the top 6 teams which deciphered the maximum number of words would make it to the finals.
The unique rules of the contest brought me out of my sulking mood. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to try something new, and also hone my vocabulary. We had nothing to lose and were also playing to our strengths (Vikram and I were particularly good at English). I silently thanked Vikram for pushing me to compete and jumped head along into the contest. After the contest we compared our results and found that each of us were able to guess 5 of the 10 words the other received. With our total score at '10' we really thought we had a chance to make it to the finals but when the result arrived we didn't make it.
Although the result was a setback, it didn't bother us at all. We were in fact proud of our effort and one of the organizers confirmed that our score was in fact very close to the cut off. We walked away from the contest with a smile but little did we realize then that the spirit of competition which touched us that day, would stay with us forever. That spirit encouraged us to take part in a number of contests all throughout our four years of engineering. That spirit lifted me when my academic results slumped. If I competed as much as I did later on during my tenure in Toastmasters, it's probably because of that spirit which engulfed me on that day.
'What's the Good Word?' not only made me a contestant but also brought out the organizer in me. In the third year of my engineering, my English Professor encouraged me to organize the very same 'What's the Good Word?' contest and I immediately jumped at the opportunity. We saw a rousing response that year with more than 30 teams taking part. I felt this was the perfect chance to tighten the rules and create a level playing ground for everyone. I strengthened the rules to prevent contestants from passing wild cards as clues for the words they received. For Example: If you received 'Happy', you couldn't pass on a clue like H___Y or H (5) to your team mate. The clue had to be a meaningful sentence about the word.
I also introduced '*' words which if deciphered would not only yield more marks to teams but would also be used to resolve tie-breaks between them. Eight teams made it to the finals that year and the final round was a crossword puzzle where the teams had to wade through a set of clues before the winner was crowned. That year when the winners were receiving their awards on stage my heart swelled up with pride. I for myself never won the contest but I had the good fortune of organizing one where learning triumphed over everything else.
Every memorable journey starts on a good day but for me my journey into the professional world started with a good word. To be precise it started with 'What's the Good Word?'. The contest started my transformation from a shy, timid teenager to a confident man who believed in his own abilities. I learnt to base the result of any contest on the learning I gained from it and not on whether I won or lost. Above all I understood any hobby, skill or craft you take up with focus tends to have a positive impact on other aspects of your life. Active competition helped me improve my analytical and communication skills to an extent that I not only passed out of my engineering with a campus placement but also aced competitive exams such as GRE and GMAT. So in many ways what's the good word contest was the turning point which nudged my life in the right direction.
So my dear friends I have a question for you now "What is the good word that will kick start your journey or be the turning point for you?" Think about it, the magic that you seek to reinvigorate your life might well be within you, all you need is a friend like Vikram to give you a nudge in the right direction. Vikram wherever you are "Thank you brother!". I hope this blog gives you that positive nudge which Vikram once gave me. May your journey towards your career aspirations and a great life start with these good words "All the Very Best!".
Until Next Time,
Your Friend,
J.J. Chaitanya
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