After their first success in 2011, 18th September, Carpe Diem was back with a bang once again in 2012, 23rd September, overloaded with energy and aims to encourage the youth to believe in their passion and be optimistic. The conference took place at the Manzar Akbar Hall, Arts Council.
Shoaib Ahmed, founder of Carpe Diem and also a certified SoL trainer led the management team as well as the participants splendidly! So are his words, “No matter what I do, I just want to leave a mark.” The event wouldn’t have been such joy if it wasn’t for his calm attitude and high spirits that kept everybody relaxed and jolly.
The theme of the session, Step Up for a Change, attracted about 220 youngsters from different schools, colleges and universities. There were students from ‘Ida Rieu’ who participated with brimming energy and made most of the conference. Team Carpe Diem deserves much appreciation for their effort to promote visually impaired people, providing a platform for them to achieve their goals and polish their passions.
The participants were extremely enthusiastic and enjoyed the mentoring sessions. They were receptive and took great amount of interest in what the specialists were talking about. They were divided into 10 groups, each consisting of about 20 people. The groups headed by their appointed facilitators who deserve appreciation for they underwent a tough job the entire day.
Arsalan Larik took an excellent start of the event by conducting the first session. His mentoring and examples proved to be very interesting and thought provoking. When asked from a student of Ida Rieu, she said, “He talked about encouragement. Along with motivation, encouragement and family support means a lot for an individual!”
A mentoring session by the Gulbhao foundation was followed after lunch. Participants sang along with her and enjoyed her refreshing speech. She is truly an inspiration for all.
“Umair Jaliawala was the reason!” says a participant with love and respect for the trainer and certainly, he was. His mentoring session was spectacular and kept the whole crowd engaged throughout. The participants and management welcomed Umair Jaliwala, trainer at SoL, with a standing ovation and showed how much respect he has earned within their hearts. The most awaited part of his mentoring session was his
monologue, ‘Sayonee’ which enlightened the hall about our Pakistan before independence and after. It was truly heart touching and worth knowing! He transferred positive energy throughout his session and shared valuable thoughts with the youngsters, enlightening them with the obvious. Surly, all who were present had gained much from his spectacular session.
A panel discussion amongst the well known Saquid Sameer and Usman Mazhar, belonging to Pakistan’s theater industry, took place with Umair Jaliawala. It proved extremely interesting and the crowd participated and understood the message which they were trying to deliver, i.e. follow your passion and chase your dreams to make them come true.
The event came to an end after Umair Jaliwala’s session and team Carpe Diem was thankful to all the speakers/mentors who made the event worth attending. The sponsors, media partners, official photographers as well as the management team were thanked and their efforts were truly appreciated by the organizers. Participants and management team were also granted certificates. Team Carpe Diem is ready to come up with more exciting events in future, re-vitalizing the youth and teaching them to make most of the present!
This picture is a copyright of SU photography, and is being used without permission.
this should be removed ASAP.