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. This was a really good platform for me to learn new things. We got to meet our EXCO, the BOD members, and fellow Rotaractors at the club picnic. The best thing that happened to me in Rotaract was meeting my friend group. I’m glad the whole bunch is still here with me, even though our Rotaract journey has come to an end. Even now, as I’m writing this I can’t help but smile, thinking of my crazy girl gang.

I chaired some projects in the first year. There I got an opportunity to show off my talents and, at the same time, improve my report-writing skills and many other things related to documentation and handling finances.

In the first year, we engaged in projects with more fun and fewer responsibilities. I especially remember the Mau Diriya project, where we went to Aralaganwila and met with pregnant mothers who were experiencing teenage pregnancy and malnutrition. Also, I gained valuable experience organizing events through Baila Night. The Rotaract Champions League was another great experience that I enjoyed a lot with my fellow Rotaractors.

In our second year, I was appointed as the junior treasurer of the club.

Being the club treasurer, it was a new experience for me to make financial reports. But I learned them with great enthusiasm. Our EXCO and the BOD worked hard to raise funds and sponsorships for the events. We did several small-scale fundraisers, like food stalls selling stickers and bookmarks, and two large-scale fundraising events, Baila Night and O’ Santa. Paying the RI dues was our main financial challenge, but we managed to achieve it successfully. As the treasurer of the club, I highly appreciate the financial contributions made by the board members. As a board, we managed to end our year with no financial losses but profits. I strongly believe that we were able to end our year successfully because of the well-planned financial strategic plan we implemented at the beginning of the year.

Our Rotaract year was full of responsibilities and work. However, our EXCO and BOD became like a really close family to me by going through challenges and joy together. Project work, sponsorship hunting, shopping for project work, gossip sessions after projects, night outs, road trips, and many other things we did together will remain in my memory forever. At the same time, by participating in district initiatives, I met many new friends from both inside and outside of our university. I believe that it was a great experience for me as an undergraduate.

In the end, I would like to give a message to anyone who is joining Rotaract, and that is that this is one of the best platforms to work for the betterment of society by making your dream a reality. I’m ending my Rotaract journey with the great satisfaction of doing volunteer work to make our community a better place. So, I hope you all will create a better world with your innovative ideas, and use Rotaract as a driving force.

– Rtr. Dhanuji Amaranayake