IEEE Education Society (EdSoc) Kerala Chapter organized a webinar on the topic ‘Building Unshakeable Self Confidence and Self Esteem’ on 27th February 2022 from 10.00AM to 11.15 AM IST. Ms.SreelaMenon who is the Co-Founder of MindEmpowered Charitable Trust and a freelance behavioral trainer was the speaker of the day. The event was carried out in the presence of prominent members like Founder Chair – Prof. Muhammed Kasim S, Chapter

Advisor – Dr. C Kesavaswamy, Design and Publicity lead- Mrs. Maya Menon, WIE Activities Chair- Prof. Gayathri, and many more.

The session was intended to enlighten us to be self proud and embrace our own self in an authentic way. The event began with a pleasant welcoming by the host of the meeting Alna Maria Ben on behalf of the SLT team. Following this, Mr.Sarath S (Student Activities Chair) and Prof. Muhammed Kasim S (Founder Chair) gave a general introduction regarding the EdSoc Kerala Chapter and also extended a hearty welcome to the auspicious speaker on their behalf. The official welcome note was then given by Mrs. Maya Menon, Design and Publicity lead of IEEE EdSoc Kerala Chapter. In her address, she welcomed the respected speaker and all the delegates into the session. With that note, she invited the esteemed speaker, Ms.Sreela Menon, for the session.

In response to the invitation, Ms.Sreela Menon came forward and expressed her gratitude to everyone for the welcome note and this huge opportunity. Followed by

that, she began the session with a basic introduction of herself, her charitable trust, and the webinars and sessions conducted by them. The commencement of the session was marked by the provision of agenda on ‘Building Unshakeable Self Confidence and Self Esteem’.

First and foremost, the meaning of self-confidence and self-esteem was discussed in detail to attain a deep insight regarding the same. Then the symptoms of low self-esteem were also discussed. Followed by that, she gave an example of Winnie-the pooh and Tom & Jerry to instill the huge self-esteem these characters depicted. In the note followed, she explained the strong relationship between self-confidence and self-esteem. She strongly conveyed that to have high self-esteem we need to like, respect and accept our self and this self-esteem, when combined with good preparation, can make you self-confident. The four techniques which help us in getting unshakeable self-confidence and self-esteem were also explained thoroughly. These four techniques include Awareness, Transformation, Detachment, and Community.

As part of being aware of ourselves, she even asked all the attendees to note down or havea deepthoughtontheirstrengthsandweaknessesandmostimportantly,about the root cause of their low self-esteem. In addition, everyone was also asked to remove the negative self-talk that they are having with themselves which actually drives down their confidence rate. She also had a brief discussion regarding the positive approach that we should have and the various ways in which a single thought can turn out to be a positive or negative way of thinking. After that, she emphasized the need to be our own loyal friends which will indeed never make you alone in any situation. For this, one needs to love ourselves and accept the fact that we are unique in our own way. In addition to that, she further emphasized the need for self-care

which can be achieved by grounding techniques, having creative hobbies, trying something new, keeping a balanced diet & exercise, and so on.

Further, the acceptance of our flaws and problems in a good way was given priority. She also pointed out that we should change the thought of changing ourselves and accept ourselves as a person who is unique in all terms. She even conveyed the need to neglect the comparison of the community unless and until it is constructive in nature where they also say the way to improve ourselves. Don’t ever wait for external validation when you yourself are sufficient. Further, the need for removing the negative people around and past haunting experiences were prioritized and explained. As a conclusion of the talk, she also pointed out the important topics and generalized the entire session as a summary.

Thanking Ms. Sreela Menon for her valuable words, the session was then opened for Q&A.

In response to that Prof. Muhammed Kasim and some of the students put forward their queries which were beautifully addressed by our esteemed speaker. Dr. C Kesavaswamy also expressed his immense gratitude and   appreciation for the speaker for providing such a productive session with in a short period of time enhancing every aspect of our lives. He also gave relevant examples supporting the speaker’s arguments which was indeed a memorable moment for the speaker and the whole team. Right after that, a virtual photograph was taken to make the day even more auspicious. Also, a token of appreciation was presented to the most delightful speaker by the entire EdSoc team. In addition, a feedback form was also provided.

Following that, Prof.Gayathri, WIE Activities Chair of IEEE EdSoc Kerala Chapter, came forward for the vote of thanks. In her note, she thanked Ms. Sreela Menon for her presence and for engaging the session in a wonderful way. In addition to that, she expressed her gratitude to all the delegates and attendees for their active participation.

The very first webinar session of this year of IEEE EdSoc Kerala Chapter thus came to an end with that thanking note.