As the famous saying goes,
The Best View Comes After the Hardest Climb
It was that time of the year where the Rotaract Club of Achievers Lanka Business School welcomed yet another year full of diverse projects while celebrating the success of the previous year headed by Rtr. Maneesha Abeyarathne. What better way to commemorate the beginning of another enthralling and adventurous expedition, than with the official installation of the newly appointed board.
This was without a doubt an exciting day for all the club members as it marked the beginning of a long journey which would instill many memories which each and every member would carry forward with them. Whilst this event was an opportunity to introduce the newly appointed board, it was also a platform which was created to look back on the hurdles crossed by the Club to reach its’ current position.
The 8th Installation Ceremony of the Rotaract Club of Achievers Lanka Business School took place on the 7th of August 2017 at the Royal College Union Skills with the presence of many dignitaries, special guests and fellow Rotaractors of various other Rotaract Clubs of the District. Being our first Project, the event ran quite smoothly and was successfully concluded by evening. However, the process of organizing such an event took place almost two months prior. The Project Co-Chairs included the two newly appointed Club Service Directors, Rtr. Tharindi Thalahity and Rtr. Mohandas Jeyakumar who worked tirelessly in order to ensure that the event was carried out smoothly by looking into all necessary avenues and allocating different Club members to various committees.
The new Theme for the years 2017-2018 was discussed amongst the board and it was with great confidence that we decided to go with ‘Aspire to Inspire’. To us, this message goes beyond the basic norms of achieving a specific mission whilst inspiring others to improve their level of dedication and commitment towards a great cause. Instead, we draw focus on the spirit of encouragement and how aspiring to achieve a greater good could instill motivation and passion whilst positively influencing others as well.
The Installation Ceremony like any other was anticipated by everyone who was actively involved in making the event a success. The sheer excitement and support from past board members, to newly appointed board members and even the new members who just entered the club less than a few weeks ago was great encouragement to the two co-chairs who worked hard to live-up to the expected standards of a successful Installation Ceremony. The comperes for the evening, Rtr. Siva and Rtr. Ahmed were two new members of the club who joined us just a week before, but took up the challenge of addressing the crowd wholeheartedly.
Initiating the event by the lighting of the oil lamp was thereafter followed by the Welcome Address presented by the co-chairs. In addition to this, we also had the Secretary of 2016-2017 read out the Secretary’s Report for the previous year which provided everyone with the opportunity of relieving and recalling pleasant memories either through organizing or attending an event held by Rotaract Achievers, as well as the Outgoing Presidents’ Address by IPP Rtr. Maneesha Abeyarathne where she shared her thoughts and expressed gratitude to some members’ of the Club.
The Introduction to the President for the year 2017-2018 was carried out by the Incoming Presidents’ “Best Friend” Rtr. Rangesh, who definitely had many nice things to say about Rtr. Laila Zafir. Moving forward, the Board was introduced with each member having a small video clip with their introduction, and once the induction of the Incoming Board was completed the crowd was addressed by the Chief Guest and Guest of Honor for the evening.
With one of the best moments of the night (after the delicious food) being the spectacular performance by Rtr. Nelaka Fernando and Minesh Dissanayake, we successfully wrapped up and concluded the 8th Installation Ceremony with motivation and the commitment to aspire in order to inspire. The words of encouragement provided to us by our DRR. Rtr. PP Anuradha Senanayake, Chief Guest Rtn. Selvaraja Maherakanth, Guest of Honor Rtn. Satyajit Seneviratne along with other Dignitaries, Rotaractors and Interactors will stand as a driving force towards a better performance in the coming year.
Here’s to a wonderful year full of memories which would inspire us to be the driving force of change we wish to see in the world!
Editor