Example Reflection – Story Telling 

 Challenge and Selection 

 The art of storytelling is something that has always intrigued me . I finished my Bachelor ’s in   Engineering in May 2018 and was placed into one of India ’s reputed automobile companies through   Campus Recruitment . The company provides a year ’s training about the businesses and the verticals   within , for us to have a clearer understanding and ownership of the processes in place so as to make   the transition from campus to corporate smoother . The training started in August . We were a batch   of 120 new recruits of which I knew not even a single member personally . The situation was   challenging as it was tough for me to gel into an atmosphere of total unknowingness . This is when , in   a quest to get to know them better , I started sharing my life stories and also heard theirs . This allowed   me to compare and contrast the ways through which each one of us had to tread to reach the same   place . Individual sharing of stories is a long process to know each one of them , but the same is also of   paramount importance as networking proves to be one of the prime factors ascertaining the levels to   which you grow in an organization . This was when a challenge was put forward , which I would better   phrase as an opportunity . There was going to be an internal election for the selection of a group leader   who would facilitate the flow of information from the senior management to the trainees . Without   personally knowing more than 80 % of the voters , it was ought to be tough to convince them to vote   for you , especially considering that there were a few colleges from where the company had hired in   huge numbers , and that the most popular members from their colleges were also competing   candidates . 

 Application 

 On such a stage , each of my competitors had a horde of achievements , participations and voluntary   activities to their name compared to my meagre few . It was clear to me that something different had   to be done in order to stand apart . This was also when I had enrolled in the design thinking course and   had already underwent some of the modules . Storytelling was one of the better tools that I found dear   and effective and felt would be the right fit for the job at hand . I would like to share a story of the   story that I presented that particular day . 

 Among the 10 candidates who were willing to contest , the 9 of them had delivered powerful   bulldozing achievements of theirs which only made the audience feel smaller . It was my turn to speak   before the polling would be open . I opened by saying that I have not much experience when it comes   to managing events or delegating things . Then I went on to share a small part of my life ’s journey . I   had just completed my 10th and was awarded by the Governor of Maharashtra for being the boards ’   topper of the entire Western Zone in the examination conducted by the Central Board of Secondary   Education , India . There was a lot of praise and appreciation flowing in from all sides and talks about   how big I would make it in the coming days . That was also when the friendship between a real close   female friend of mine and me was blossoming into newer and higher avenues . All seemed rosy and   pitch perfect when one day she became the victim of a car crash . She died . It left me shaken . My   grandfather was who I was the next closest to and I ’d sit by his side , hoping , that just maybe , maybe   it was all a nightmare and I ’ll wake up soon . That was when my grandfather , who was among the fittest   guys in the neighbourhood , had a kidney failure . The entire household was in a state of panic . We had   to arrange for amounts of money that we never before had seen in our lifetimes . It is sometimes said   that when God gives , he gives aplenty . When he takes , he takes more than what you can withstand . 

 For a guy who was the zonal topper , now I had FAILED in two of my subjects in my 11th grade . I felt the   world coming crashing on to me . My grandfather finally made it out unharmed . But all of this had left   me and my family financially and emotionally drained . This was when I decided it was time to take the   plunge . To give it all I can to make things alright again . In spite of all the turbulence inside my head , I   made it a point to slog in the hours . I would sit and stare at my books regardless of what went inside .   I wrote the exams and I failed . This gave rise to further anger and frustration and I tried my best to   channel it into useful effort . I decided to not give up . As months passed , the emotional agony   alleviated and I started gaining stable ground . I studied like a madman and wanted to prove to myself   that it is me who decides my fate and not the circumstances . Fast forward to my exams , I did   reasonably well in my boards and aced the entrances to finally get into one of the premier institutions   of the country . 

 Insight and Approach 

 I followed up the story saying that I ca n’t say if I would be the best bet to be a leader . What I did assure   was that no matter what weight of expectation or responsibility I am bestowed with , I ’ll make sure to   not give up . I believed that each one among the 120 had the capability to lead and that the best I could   do would be to just be a representative , a voice of the 120 who would hold each voice equally   important . 

 What I had observed through the course of life that this course could clearly convey is that humans   are creatures of emotions more so than logic . The way towards connecting with another human being   is empathy , which can be best generated through story telling . Each human being has at least once   gone through a bad phase and a similar experience being narrated by another gets them feel   connected much quicker . 

 I ended my speech and we had the voting and I eventually was selected . More importantly , after the   elections , a lot of people came up to me to know about my story and also to share a part of theirs .   This was , I have made more friends in a few days than I could have through the year . Sometimes , a   simple true story can do a lot to bring the otherwise unapproachable people together . 

 This course has really helped me reinforce the belief of the importance of storytelling as a design tool .   Now I can prepare ahead and also think of stories that I could tell designed according to the audience ,   which would be great deal in expressing my ideas more clearly whilst also generating empathy . 


EMAIL: 
ID_NUM: 
NAME_STUDENT: 
PHONE_NUM: 
STREET_ADDRESS: 
URL_PERSONAL: 
USERNAME: 

### Task: You are a PII (Personal Identity Information) Detection. Given a essays written by students, you have to identify ONLY the following:
NAME_STUDENT - The full or partial name of a student that is not necessarily the author of the essay. This excludes instructors, authors, and other person names.
EMAIL - A student’s email address.
USERNAME - A student's username on any platform.
ID_NUM - A number or sequence of characters that could be used to identify a student, such as a student ID or a social security number.
PHONE_NUM - A phone number associated with a student.
URL_PERSONAL - A URL that might be used to identify a student.
STREET_ADDRESS - A full or partial street address that is associated with the student, such as their home address.
### Input: Example Reflection – Story Telling 

 Challenge and Selection 

 The art of storytelling is something that has always intrigued me . I finished my Bachelor ’s in   Engineering in May 2018 and was placed into one of India ’s reputed automobile companies through   Campus Recruitment . The company provides a year ’s training about the businesses and the verticals   within , for us to have a clearer understanding and ownership of the processes in place so as to make   the transition from campus to corporate smoother . The training started in August . We were a batch   of 120 new recruits of which I knew not even a single member personally . The situation was   challenging as it was tough for me to gel into an atmosphere of total unknowingness . This is when , in   a quest to get to know them better , I started sharing my life stories and also heard theirs . This allowed   me to compare and contrast the ways through which each one of us had to tread to reach the same   place . Individual sharing of stories is a long process to know each one of them , but the same is also of   paramount importance as networking proves to be one of the prime factors ascertaining the levels to   which you grow in an organization . This was when a challenge was put forward , which I would better   phrase as an opportunity . There was going to be an internal election for the selection of a group leader   who would facilitate the flow of information from the senior management to the trainees . Without   personally knowing more than 80 % of the voters , it was ought to be tough to convince them to vote   for you , especially considering that there were a few colleges from where the company had hired in   huge numbers , and that the most popular members from their colleges were also competing   candidates . 

 Application 

 On such a stage , each of my competitors had a horde of achievements , participations and voluntary   activities to their name compared to my meagre few . It was clear to me that something different had   to be done in order to stand apart . This was also when I had enrolled in the design thinking course and   had already underwent some of the modules . Storytelling was one of the better tools that I found dear   and effective and felt would be the right fit for the job at hand . I would like to share a story of the   story that I presented that particular day . 

 Among the 10 candidates who were willing to contest , the 9 of them had delivered powerful   bulldozing achievements of theirs which only made the audience feel smaller . It was my turn to speak   before the polling would be open . I opened by saying that I have not much experience when it comes   to managing events or delegating things . Then I went on to share a small part of my life ’s journey . I   had just completed my 10th and was awarded by the Governor of Maharashtra for being the boards ’   topper of the entire Western Zone in the examination conducted by the Central Board of Secondary   Education , India . There was a lot of praise and appreciation flowing in from all sides and talks about   how big I would make it in the coming days . That was also when the friendship between a real close   female friend of mine and me was blossoming into newer and higher avenues . All seemed rosy and   pitch perfect when one day she became the victim of a car crash . She died . It left me shaken . My   grandfather was who I was the next closest to and I ’d sit by his side , hoping , that just maybe , maybe   it was all a nightmare and I ’ll wake up soon . That was when my grandfather , who was among the fittest   guys in the neighbourhood , had a kidney failure . The entire household was in a state of panic . We had   to arrange for amounts of money that we never before had seen in our lifetimes . It is sometimes said   that when God gives , he gives aplenty . When he takes , he takes more than what you can withstand . 

 For a guy who was the zonal topper , now I had FAILED in two of my subjects in my 11th grade . I felt the   world coming crashing on to me . My grandfather finally made it out unharmed . But all of this had left   me and my family financially and emotionally drained . This was when I decided it was time to take the   plunge . To give it all I can to make things alright again . In spite of all the turbulence inside my head , I   made it a point to slog in the hours . I would sit and stare at my books regardless of what went inside .   I wrote the exams and I failed . This gave rise to further anger and frustration and I tried my best to   channel it into useful effort . I decided to not give up . As months passed , the emotional agony   alleviated and I started gaining stable ground . I studied like a madman and wanted to prove to myself   that it is me who decides my fate and not the circumstances . Fast forward to my exams , I did   reasonably well in my boards and aced the entrances to finally get into one of the premier institutions   of the country . 

 Insight and Approach 

 I followed up the story saying that I ca n’t say if I would be the best bet to be a leader . What I did assure   was that no matter what weight of expectation or responsibility I am bestowed with , I ’ll make sure to   not give up . I believed that each one among the 120 had the capability to lead and that the best I could   do would be to just be a representative , a voice of the 120 who would hold each voice equally   important . 

 What I had observed through the course of life that this course could clearly convey is that humans   are creatures of emotions more so than logic . The way towards connecting with another human being   is empathy , which can be best generated through story telling . Each human being has at least once   gone through a bad phase and a similar experience being narrated by another gets them feel   connected much quicker . 

 I ended my speech and we had the voting and I eventually was selected . More importantly , after the   elections , a lot of people came up to me to know about my story and also to share a part of theirs .   This was , I have made more friends in a few days than I could have through the year . Sometimes , a   simple true story can do a lot to bring the otherwise unapproachable people together . 

 This course has really helped me reinforce the belief of the importance of storytelling as a design tool .   Now I can prepare ahead and also think of stories that I could tell designed according to the audience ,   which would be great deal in expressing my ideas more clearly whilst also generating empathy .
### Output: 