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How can becoming a Curtin Volunteer leader help you enhance your leadership skills? Meet Tahsin, a civil and construction engineering student and a CV Leader.
What opportunities does Curtin offer to help students grow their leadership skills? With Curtin Volunteers, Tahsin has been developing his leadership skills as a CV leader.
When Tahsin first applied to become a CV leader after being a Curtin Volunteer for a year, he was unsuccessful.
“After not being selected, I went to the drawing board, and I was sad for one or two days, but then I thought A, I’m not prepared, and B, there are a few things that I need to learn to become a CV leader. I saw the opportunity as just a leadership position, rather than really wanting to become a CV leader”
But when he applied the second time, he was selected for the group interview and became a CV leader.
“I was pretty happy. I was overjoyed.”
Tahsin chose to become a CV leader because he loves leadership; it comes naturally to him.
“I love the chaos. I love bringing everyone together. I love organising things. I always love the challenges. Pressure is a privilege for my life, and hence leadership also is a privilege.”
One of Tahsin’s favourite experiences as a CV leader has been the Dardanup Bull and Barrel Festival in November of last year in Ferguson Valley.
“The whole atmosphere was like a festival. I met a lot of people and then went to see a lot of markets, tried different food and had a proper rural country experience.”
Though he had the support of his co-leader, Deepak, Tahsin still faced challenges during the festival. One of those was his worries about making sure his volunteer team was being properly looked after.
“It was big, and there were 10-12 volunteers in a team. And you are volunteering till 9 pm. I found it quite challenging because sometimes even if they were not okay, they would tell you, ‘I’m okay,’ so you’ve got to make sure by seeing their face or their body language.”
Being a CV leader has helped Tahsin find a sense of calm in his everyday life.
“I believe that calmness came from understanding people. From that calmness, a silent confidence grew, and I think that came from this leadership program.”
When he first started as a CV leader, Tahsin had plenty of catch-up sessions with other CV leaders and a mentor to ensure he felt prepared and supported. This didn’t just help him become the leader he is now, but also gave him a community.
“They’re kind of a family to me now, Norma, Krish, Mark, all the mentors. I don’t see them as mentors anymore; I see them as friends. Even sometimes when we catch up, I share a lot of personal things with them as well. So that indicates how close we became.”
Tahsin’s advice for becoming a CV leader is to go for it and to not worry about the mistakes you might make along the way–just learn from them instead.
“I believe that the best people become best by dealing with the mistakes they make. The more mistakes you make and deal with, the better you become.”
