One hundred and twenty eight arts and science college students from eight districts participated in the exciting Master Mind contest held in the city on Tuesday. Holy Cross College B.A.English Literature student Seshaa Senbagam won the first prize.
V. Balasubramaniam (M.Sc. IT, Srimad Andavan Arts and Science College) and S. Srividhya (Applied Commerce, Seethalakshmi Ramaswamy College) were placed second and third respectively.
In its 14th year, the three-stage event is an annual programme that is aimed at developing soft skills among students and preparing them for the workplace.
“When we started 14 years ago, only students of professional colleges had avenues open for personality development courses.
Master Mind was intended as a special event to bridge this gap for students of the other streams,” said G. Balakrishnan, former vice principal of St. Joseph’s College and professor of English.
A well-known quiz master himself, Tuesday’s opening event, the quiz on Tamil Nadu and current affairs, was Mr.Balakrishnan’s 1,177th show.
Winners were short-listed through a written 15-minute quiz based on a questionnaire set by Mr.Balakrishnan.
This was followed by Group Dynamics, where 50 students (divided into 5 groups of 10 members each) debated on the topic ‘Leadership Without Leaders.’ Judges for Group Dynamics were: P.V. Devaraj, T.K. Sridhar, Yamuna Sridhar, Tamilarasi and John Louis. In the third stage, the nerve wracking ‘Stress Interview’ saw seven girls and three boys answer pointed questions posed by a five-member panel of experts. The teasing and critical style was necessary to get the best out of the candidates, said Mr.Balakrishnan.
“We believe it will help them prepare for the future and Master Mind itself is a step towards career goals,” he said. P. Sridharan, Deputy Commissioner, Income Tax, shared his experiences of appearing for UPSC exams.
