Shinjini Das was commencement speaker at Georgia Tech
Shinjini Das is a President's Scholar and May 2014 B.S. Industrial Engineering graduate from Georgia Tech. Selected to give the coveted Undergraduate Reflection Speech in front of approximately 10,000 undergraduates and their families, she spoke of “The Spirit of Georgia Tech” on May 3 at the Bachelor's Commencement Ceremony.
“As an Indian-American, I am extremely honored and proud of having represented the Georgia Tech Class of 2014 as well as the Indian community,” she says. Shinjini has been developing her public speaking talent ever since her first competition at age 15. She was recognized as a 2009 Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) Top Ten National Finalist in Public Speaking, and served as the only undergraduate workshop facilitator of ‘The Road to Effective Public Speaking’ at the 2011 ACC Leadership Conference.
Public speaking has “revolutionized my life,” she says. The process of crafting a speech, relating it to a diverse audience, and delivering it with style has built her confidence, leading to leadership opportunities. A member of Omicron Delta Kappa, a national collegiate leadership society, she serves on The New Agenda's 2014 Young Women Leadership Council as the only woman from Georgia Tech, and she was invited as the youngest presenter by The Soledad O'Brien and Brad Raymond Foundation to lead a seminar on ‘Life After College.’
Shinjini urges students to “create your own opportunities and strive to follow a path in order to achieve your goals and aspirations.” This includes, especially for engineers, sharpening oral communication skills. “Effective communication is the name of the game today. The best way to improve is to practice!”
Shinjini feels that the greatest honor is knowing that her message has successfully impacted her audience. She has accepted a full time offer with Deloitte Consulting where she hopes to put her public speaking skills to the test.
—From an interview by Georgia Tech's Industrial and Systems Engineering School: http://www.isye.gatech.edu/news-events/news/release.php?nid=291901.
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