Outstanding Student Leadership

We were so thrilled to offer Dhanush a student leadership opportunity for our Shanti Bhavan Virtual Music Program. With our team not on the Shanti Bhavan grounds, we needed strong leadership to supervise and manage lessons and choir rehearsals and he stepped up to the challenge.

“Being a VMI leader has helped me view responsibility as a way to build resilience and confidence when facing challenges. I realized being responsible carries with it the idea of not only being accountable for myself but also helping others take charge. Because my role was critical to other students' success, I had the opportunity to see many of them grow into strong individuals by the end of the term. Although they struggled with time management and effective communication in the beginning, they learned how to navigate both maintaining grades and doing well in their music classes. Even with the challenges that came along with online learning, they persevered and practiced and ended the school year strong. Helping the students helped me promote both my self-reliance and responsibility in a large way. My role required me to be on top of things constantly. I had to make sure students had the necessary materials for class, ensure that online classes went smoothly with minimal disruptions, and make sure that choir and individual rehearsals went on without a hitch. Doing this really helped me be more flexible, responsible, and ready to tackle any problem in the way. Many skills were challenged with this role. For example, I found communication prove to be a huge challenge for me. I struggled with communicating at once about any unprecedented changes. With time, I learned the importance and value of being able to communicate efficiently and worked very hard on it. Overall, I had a wonderful time being a VMI coordinator the past year and enjoyed all the memories I made with the students. I loved that all the work we put into the concert for Christmas paid off and that we were able to have a smooth music program this year. I hope the students hold on to all the lessons we've learned this academic year and move on confidently with the same curiosity and eagerness to explore the world of music with their teachers.” -Dhanush