As medical students in the University of Colombo, we are fortunate to learn from distinguished individuals who are indeed “the cream of the cream of the cream of the cream”. Enriching each of their identities is a story. A lifetime of experiences, both good and bad, have made these lecturers personalities that we look up to with respect, love and above all, awe. Insights to Inspire 2.0 brought out their Insights to the spotlight, to Inspire our fellow students.
Over 2 days in December, we interviewed 8 lecturers, in 4 pairs. Day 1 featured Dr. Nilanka Wickramasinghe with Dr. Dakshitha Wickramasinghe and Dr. Lakmali Amarasiri with Dr. Yamuna Rajapaksha. Day 2 showcased the lives of our Dean, Prof. Vajira Dissanayake with Dr. Probodhana Ranaweera, and Prof. D.J. Anthony with Prof Shalini Sri Ranganathan. Indeed some of the finest minds and characters Sri Lanka has to offer. 4 Rotaractors of our club had the privilege of interviewing them in front of a live audience. The interviews were filled with advice, laughs, music and more. Based on the audience feedback, we have no doubt that everyone enjoyed and were inspired.
Insights to Inspire went beyond these 2 days in fact. To train our interviewers, Insights to Interviews took place as a prelude, where accomplished media personnel Shareefa Thahir conducted a workshop, followed by several practical sessions. The invitation to attend was extended to the entire faculty, for all those who are interested.
There are students amongst you and I who have gone beyond the ordinary academically and beyond. We asked them the secrets of their success in a series of 9 mini interviews covering 5 batches, which were shared parallel to our publicity campaign.
A board of appreciation was put up in the UCFM tower lobby for students to express their gratitude to those lecturers who have stirred them the most. It was a beautiful gesture of gratitude to those who toil day and night to make us great doctors and human beings.
Finally, in Insights to Inspire 2.0, we tried to inspire by many actions in our event. We rejected the culture of giving factory-made plaques as tokens of appreciation for our invited lecturers and chose rather to make personalized, custom handmade cards, integrating our words of admiration and indebtedness with pictures of their hobbies and interests. We wanted to treat our audience as best we could within a limited budget, and provided complimentary drinks to everyone, a virgin mint mojito on Day 1, and a virgin watermelon mojito on the 2nd. We rejected the practice of giving our special invitees fast-food by serving cut fresh fruits instead, to promote a culture of healthy eating within a medical faculty. However, we are not done yet. Await the recordings of the event to feature on YouTube. I shouldn’t spoil the further surprises we have in store!
