21st September 2022
Mumbai

St. Teresa's Institute of Education hosted a workshop on 'Fighting the Odds' by Asst. Prof. Dr. Megha D'souza on 21st September 2022. The seminar was organised by Prof.Dr. Giselle D'souza. In all there were 41 F.Y.B.Ed students who attended it. Dr. Megha commenced the session by asking us to introduce ourselves as something we symbolize ourselves with. It was very empowering. The main focus of the workshop was to inculcate the skill of Resilience in order to emerge as a victor from all the obstacles we are faced with in life. Ma’am narrated a story about a farmer and a donkey. The end of the story was truly inspiring and gave us a life lesson that there will be obstacles and dirt thrown at us, the donkey could have got buried under the dirt but like the donkey we should climb over the dirt and reach our destination. Dr. Megha exemplified the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy model proposed by Albert Ellis through various stories. She explained the connections between feelings and thoughts. She conducted an activity based on the ABCDE model given by Dr. Albert Ellis which was to recollect a personal event and write it down and section it according to the model.

The aim of the activity was to make us reflect on any incident or how we have reacted to it and how we could alter our behaviour and note the change. Another activity was a breathing exercise in which Dr. Megha was narrating some situations and incidents and we had to concentrate on our inhalation and exhalation while placing one hand on the heart which was supposed to make everyone understand how each one reacts to a situation and also learn the skill of Resilience. The skill of Resilience is the ability to face and adapt to challenges to overcome them. A person with strong resilience skills can handle disappointments because they don't let setbacks stop them from progressing. The seminar ended with a story based on a disciple and a Chinese bamboo tree. The moral it left us with was that it is necessary to be persistent and patient in all situations. The takeaway from the seminar was to learn the skill of Resilience by fighting the odds, building a deeper connection with our thoughts and feelings and to use these skills to help others effectively.