Month: June 2024

Stepping Up: A Year of Fun, Challenges, and Impact

The clearest memory I have of my first days as an undergraduate was signing up for Rotaract and joining the online orientation program of the club. With online learning taking control, apart from attending the university on the day of the placement test, I had no need to step into the university. It was Rotaract that gave me the reason to come to university during the first semester of my first year. Therefore, it's right to say that my university life would not have been the same if not for Rotaract. . My first year as a Rotaractor enabled me to experience days of endless fun, happiness, and whatnot. We were on a journey, making memories with friends who felt…

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The Universe of the University of Colombo

University of Colombo was a fever dream. Stepping through those gates knowing anyone but myself was a challenge I quietly yet gradually overcame with time. The first two weeks were the hardest, I am not your typical extrovert who would strike up a conversation with a passers-by, (I’m not, Uvinya. You can sit down) it took me time to settle into the routine, and understand the lectures and meet my clique, I guess. To add to that, I was miles away from home, staying in a random place and the homesickness that takes you over in the first few days, with no homemade meals and just you in a small room you rented is not just lonely, sometimes a little…

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From Fresher to Treasurer: A Year of Friendship, Service & Growth

I started my Rotaract journey when I was in my first year at university. When I got selected for Colombo University, one of my friends who is currently studying there inspired me to join Rotaract. I was so excited to join Rotaract after hearing about his experiences and seeing pictures of him working on Rotaract projects at the University of Colombo's Science Faculty. As the COVID pandemic was there, we had online lectures in the first semester of our first year. However, I used to come to the university for sports practices. So it was a great opportunity for me to engage in physical activities done by the club. My first year at Rotaract was full of joy and excitement.…

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365 Days at the University!

පිනි පොද වැස්සක් බිම තෙමන හවස් වෙලාවක ඒ හැගීම විදගෙන පොතක් කියවන එක හරිම වෙනස් හැගීමක්. අද හවස මං හිතුවා ඒ වැස්ස දිහා බලගෙන මේ වචන ලියන්න. අනධ්‍යන වැඩවර්ජනය නිසා කැම්පස් එක වහලා ගෙදරටම කොටුවුණු 49 වෙනි දවස අද. සහ වැදගත්ම දේ මේ මාසේ වෙද්දී මං කැම්පස් ඇවිත් හරියටම අවුරුද්දක්! සමහර වෙලාවට නිවාඩු තියෙන එක හොදයි කියලා හිතුණත්, මේ මගහැරෙන්නේ කැම්පස් එකේ ලස්සනම දවස් කියන එකත් හිතෙන්නෙ නැතුවම නෙමෙයි. කොහොමහරි මගේ කැම්පස් ජීවිතයේ මෙතෙක් ගත වුණු ලස්සන දවස්, නරක දවස් මේ වචන අස්සේ ගොනු කරන්න තමයි මං මේ හදන්නේ. කැම්පස් යනවා කියලා මං ඉස්සෙල්ලම හිතාගත්තෙත් 9 වසරේ අගෝස්තු වගේ කාලෙක. ඒ පේරාදෙණිය කැම්පස් එකෙන් කරපු තරගෙකින් දිනලා ඒකෙ සහතික ගන්න ගියපු දවසේ. එදා මං පේරදෙණිය කැම්පස් එක දැකපු විදිහ දැණුනු…

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The Joy of Service: A Rotaract Journey of Transformation

I would like to start by sharing the story of my Rotaract journey. One of the most cherished folders in my phone gallery is dedicated to my Rota family, filled with photos that reflect the eagerness and love with which I embarked on this journey. My Rotaract journey began in my first year of university. The most important part of this journey has been my dear Rotaract family. They were the first friends I made in university, and the bonds formed at the beginning grew stronger. I have been very happy since starting as a general member and then becoming an assistant secretary. I remember during the installation ceremony of our senior board, I thought that the next time, I…

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Daydreams and Detours

When the UNI Verse project launched its second phase, I wasn’t too interested in writing anything,thinking who would be interested in a narration of my routine university experience so far. Yet, I had nochoice but to write. Interestingly, an Instagram post shared by a friend flicked something in my scatteredmind to streamline memories from my first year at university, and I began to realize that university life isquite the rollercoaster. Before delving into reflections, I’ll backtrack a bit. Securing a spot at the University of Colombo waspretty much what I always desired, mainly for wanting to continue to take comfort in the city that hasalways been home. That Instagram post, though - it struck a chord. The post shared by…

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Reflecting on a Transformative Rotaract Year: A Journey of Leadership and Achievement

As the Rotaract year draws to a close, it's a moment of reflection and celebration for the Rotaract Club of the Faculty of Arts, University of Colombo. Amidst the challenges and triumphs, this year has been particularly memorable for the club, especially for those who took on significant roles in its leadership. In my Rotaract journey, I served not only as a Sergeant-at-Arms but also took on the role of co-director of the Professional Development Avenue. Joining the Rotaract Club in 2022 marked the beginning of a journey filled with opportunities for personal growth and contribution. Over the years, I actively participated in various projects, honing skills in photography, graphic design, team and project management, and fostering discipline among club…

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A Place of Hope and Depression

On my very first day at university, I ended up lost. It was quite a memorable day and became the very first day of many where I would end up being lost in university or on a journey back home from the place. Suffice to say, ending up in Slave Island, of all places. without knowing a thing about Colombo was quite the experience. This was followed by the very first day of orientation, where I ended up being late because I had to get off the train early due to certain complications, and ended up spending Rs. 2000 on a taxi to university. I knew that I was in for a very long ride.  I entered the Faculty of…

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වචන ගළපන්නෙකුගේ  හදවත 

රොටරැක්ට් කතුවැකියේ දෙවසරක මතක  ඉන්න තැනක ඉන්න බව දැනෙන්න සලස්වන එක මගේ සාමාන්‍ය ජීවන ලක්ෂණයක් බව බොහෝ අය දන්නවා . මං එහෙම කරන්නෙ ම ඒ ස්ථානයෙන් හරි ඒ අවස්ථාවෙන් හරි උපරිම ප්‍රයෝජනයක් ගන්න මට තියෙන ආසාව නිසාමයි . ඒ නිසා ම විශ්වවිද්‍යාල ජීවිතයේත් උපරිම ප්‍රයෝජන ගන්න පළවෙනි දවසෙදි ම මම හිතාගත්ත . ඒ නිසා අධ්‍යයන කටයුතු වගේ ම විෂය බාහිර කටයුතු ගැනත් මට ලොකු උනන්දුවක් තිබ්බ . සිව් වසරක උපාධි අපේක්ෂක ජීවිතයේ දෙවසරක් අවසන වෙමින් තියෙන මොහොතක් මේ ගෙවෙන්නෙ . ඉතින් ඒ දෙවසර පුරා ම සරසවි ජීවිතයේ වචන හා බැඳුණු රොටරැක්ට්මය මතකය ඔබත් එක්ක බෙදා ගන්නයි මං මේ සූදානම් වෙන්නෙ . රොටරැක්ට් කතුවැකියේ ඒ ගෙවුණු කාලය පිළිබඳ මේ මතක සටහන කතුවැකිය වෙනුවෙන් ලියැවෙන අවසාන සටහන බවට පත්වේවි . කවි ,…

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Beyond Goodbyes: Reflecting on Our Journey Together as Club Service Directors

Have you ever wondered what it takes to turn a group of strangers into a family? For me, the answer lies in my journey as the Co-Club Service Director of Rotaract Club of University of Colombo, Faculty of Arts. Leading as the Co-Club Service Director of the club felt like navigating a ship through tranquil and turbulent waters alike. Every event, project, meeting, and act of service was a wave that pushed us onward, imparting lessons in resilience, leadership, and unity. Our Rotaract journey set sail in mid-September 2023 with our inaugural challenge being to bring to life the dazzling Installation ceremony of the club, an event that marked the official kickoff for our club. Being new to this agenda,…

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