Beyond the Tutor - Episode 01 - Mr. Sahan J Fernando

 

 beyond the tutor – Mr. Sahan j Fernando

An untold story is always rich with inspiration, truths of reality and lessons of eternity. The objective of this very new series is to unfold a side beyond the lecturer we meet and as an amazing fact, since these young professionals are in their early stage of their career, they can enlighten us the transition from students to lecturers as well.

“Beyond the Tutor” the brand-new interview series of the FMF Media of University of Colombo started with another exciting personality who is ready to walk us through their journey of success over a fulfilled cozy chat dedicated to the emerging heroes of our Faculty of Management and Finance.

Watch the Video to get caught up in first episode of Beyond the Tutor:

Here are some questions we asked him, and his thoughtful answers:

Sir, would you like to introduce yourself to us and walk us through your journey, starting from the very beginning because we are pretty sure that they are quite curious about how your career journey has been so far and what your current engagements are at the moment.

        My ties with the university of Colombo goes back to 2010 when I started off as an undergraduate and then after working a couple of years, I passed out in 2014. Then after working a couple of years in the corporate sector, I joined the academic staff of the Department of Management and organization Studies. In September 2016, so it’s been five years since then. And I started as a professional lecturer. And got promoted to senior lecturer transitional in 2019. And still work in the same capacity.

Being a lecturer isn’t easy. To explain in a way to grab the attention of the student and aspiring them and improve motivation towards the subject and also morality. Do you remember when you first got the thought to become a lecturer and how did that transition from student to lecturer felt like? And what were the challenges you faced to become the lecturer that you dreamt of and achieved today?

        It’s a very good question. I as a kid I never wanted to become a lecturer. What I really wanted to be was an engineer. Because maybe when we were in when we are kids, those are the limited options that we get to know doctors, engineers, so on. Halfway through I realize that I’m not good at science, so I selected commerce. But I never wanted to be an accountant. I did BBS special the general kind of degree where I get the opportunity to select subjects. But with my engagement with the lecturers in department of management and organization studies, I sort of developed a passion towards teaching. And, in the university we tend to normally have learning curves which we normally call ‘kuppi’. So, in that also sort of I played a front role and I realized that I have passion for teaching. I have passion for sharing my knowledge and maybe looking at the role models which we had that time in the department sort of develop a desire to become a lecturer and then I started off in 2016.  When I reflect upon my career at the starting point, I don’t think that I was really effective as a lecturer. What I did was just go to the lecture hall and deliver the lecture, then comes back and start working on the next session. So that’s it. But there was a pivotal point where I changed my way of delivering lectures. It was mainly because we have to do a teaching course to ensure that we become professional teachers in the higher education. So, in that I learned a lot of techniques which we can use to motivate students how to get their participation. Especially I’ve being teaching small classes, getting student interaction is really easy. So, I tried a lot of different activities. I tried case studies, discussions, quizzers. Especially when the pandemic is going on, when you are doing online lectures, that interaction is really important. So, I developed gradually. But I still have more room to develop its challenging, changes from time to time. Pandemic comes, it demands different ways of doing lectures. So, it’s an exciting journey which I have enjoyed lot and I’m looking forward to face obstacles as well. Because obstacles will make you a better person in time to come.

So, as an undergraduate of our very own faculty, you must be able to recall so many memories related to love, friends, rags, sports, clubs so on, could you share with us some of those wonderful memories that you’d call as unforgettable during university life?

        Yes, those 4 years are truly amazing because I was a full-time student I never went for a job till last semester. I did play basketball for the whole 4 years and it’s a different experience because you get to know different people from other faculties and we became the SLUG champions in 2013 i guess and it sort of like the epitome in my career in basketball at University of Colombo. Apart from that we never had this Community Development project at our time but our click got together, we call it “back rows”. We got together and did a seminar for the A/L students in Polonnaruwa District in 2012 when CDP wasn't even there. Those are the once that we actually cherish, and also I would like to add Enterprise Based project we did it in 2014. Our company was “Backrows” event solution so we organized the event. We had a very large-scale product launch and demonstration. We put up a digital screen, video recorded the event. It was an entertaining and enthusiastic event for us.

I've been in the MOS department and normally there is a taboo that those who are not good in academics join the MOS department, but the things we did at the faculty after getting into the department we were somewhat able to change that taboo into a certain extent. We had a good set of people in my batch we worked together and tried to do something to the department because we knew the department was good that it has been perceived.

With the current ongoing situation, we are all stuck at home, though we all miss our old ways of going out and specially being within the walls of the university with our friends, all these precautions are for the good and the safety of everyone, so with the hope that things would go back to normal, if a student ask what is that one thing that you should not miss experiencing during the university life, what would be your answer?

        Being a full-time dedicated student it's not what you should miss. Because you get a chance to be a full-time student for 4 years and once you are passed out you will be working 35 to 40 years in the corporate sector. You would not have time to reflect upon yourself, think about you, develop yourself as a human being, and build a network.  All the opportunities will be limited after.  So be a full-time student, enjoy yourself, do the degree, do all the extracurricular activities, develop your skills not only the knowledge and also the attitude, build a network so to do that you need to be a full-time student.  So, I'm pretty much supporting students to be full time rather than part time.

Life is unique to one another but the lessons we share and learn could always be an eye opener.  We would like to hear from you the biggest life lesson you learnt that you wish to share with your students.

        Quite harder question to answer. Normally when it comes to the society you will see that there are people who are very dependent upon another, some people are very independent, sometimes we ask people to be independent. Rather what I really like people to be is interdependent.

Because we don't have the ability to do everything that is required. We have our own strengths and weaknesses. So sometimes when you are to get something done and you are not very good at it then maybe having a friend of yours to do it sort of will be a plus point. And for that to take place you need to be interdependent. So support each other because once you do something to someone it will reciprocate on another day in the time to come when you are going through a hardship.

Be interdependent and trust people.  Get the benefit of others and do something for them as well so life will be very content full.

What would be your concluding advice to all the undergraduates and anyone who looks up to you?

        It is a little bit of a lengthy answer. First be confident about yourself because some are doing quite well as undergraduates over the last 5 years I've been. But some lack confidence, you have done A/L one of the most competitive exams and you have joined one of the best business schools in the country. So you have to be confident about yourself.

Language maybe a barrier but it is not something impossible you can develop it as you go on if you put effort. Have the confidence in you to unleash your potential. We calm these undergraduates the cream of the nation because they are the best that’s why they have been selected to Colombo University. So you need to have the confidence in you.

Secondly develop the reading habit because you are reading for a degree, it will benefit once you pass out because there won't be anyone to update you about the information in the area. So, you have to do it yourself and to do that you need to practice reading as a habit. 

Interact with people, share the knowledge, the more your share the more you will be gaining. 

Engage in extracurricular as much as possible. Do a sport; represent the university get colors if possible. Be a captain or a vice captain if it's possible. Get into societies get hold of the positions. Be responsible. Through all these you will develop a good set of skills like teamwork, leadership, problem solving, negotiation etc. 

Once you pass out you will not have enough time to invest upon you, rather you will be investing time upon someone else's business.  Use this time thoughtfully to be a better human being. 

And don't limit yourself to be an employee of Sri Lanka rather thinks globally because we are living in a globalized world.

HOLD ON!!

Stay Tuned with us for more exciting episodes in the coming weeks.