State-level project exhibition at Zeal Institute’s Project Competition ❤️

I was in the final year of my diploma, and my project team and I were working on our final-year project—an Android application. As our classmates were also busy with their own projects, I learned that a project competition was going to be organized at Zeal Institute, Pune. Excited about the opportunity, I immediately asked my group members to expedite our project’s progress. However, to my dismay, I received the reply, “We are not representing our project in the project competition.” This response shattered my hopes of winning a prize in the competition. After that, I again tried to convince my team members to participate in the competition, but day by day, I failed to persuade them. Nevertheless, I never lost hope. Each day, I tried my best to convince them, but I didn’t make any progress.

After all, I decided to inform our project mentor about the competition during our project class. However, I was shocked when my project class mentor replied, “Don’t participate in the competition and risk tarnishing your reputation.” I was devastated. I had never seen such a demotivating mentor who instilled fear in students’ minds, making them feel like losers if they represented their projects.I was expecting our project mentor to appreciate the idea and persuade our team members to participate in the project competition. However, it was the opposite of what I had hoped for. Disheartened, I returned home and shared with my mom the demotivating attitude of our mentor. This incident shattered my hopes of participating in the competition, especially since no one was willing to be a part of it anymore.

I stopped convincing my team members when I noticed that only 2 to 3 groups in our class were willing to participate in the competition. I thought it would be better if I joined one of those projects and had the chance to represent it at the competition. However, my team leader always gave me the reason that our project wasn’t ready, so we couldn’t participate in the competition. They also argued that our project wasn’t good enough to present at the state-level project exhibition. However, another team wasn’t ready with their complete project either, yet they were willing to participate. All they needed was the courage and a good idea to present. It was frustrating that they didn’t want to be part of the project exhibition despite having the opportunity.

Finally, on the next day, the competition was scheduled. Two teams from our class were prepared to participate in the exhibition. However, since the exhibition was not in my hometown, we had to travel to another city for it. The exhibition was set to begin at 10 am, so we needed to arrive the day before and stay overnight in the other city. Due to the travel arrangements, one member of a team was unable to go a day early because their family denied permission.

At 10 o’clock that night, the team leader of the four-member group called me and asked me to join their team for the competition. I inquired whether our Head of Department (HOD) or the college team mentor was willing to authorize my participation, as we needed permission from the college HOD to leave for the competition. They confirmed that the HOD was okay with my participation. I requested them to give me a moment to confirm with the HOD directly, but they said it was too late to disturb them as they were spending time with their family.

After hearing this, I agreed to join their team. The following day, we had a train at 6 in the morning. I was thrilled and shared the news with my mom. My family was supportive and excited for me to actively participate in such competitions.

One day before the Exhibition:

I woke up early and headed to the station. Since I hadn’t reserved tickets, my dad helped me book them. Even though my tickets weren’t confirmed, I was still determined to be a part of this competition. Upon reaching the station, I learned that another member of the team I joined as the fourth member had also canceled. So, now we were only three members – two from the team and myself.

As I traveled for 5-6 hours and reached the destination, I found that the team leader of the group I joined went to visit their family members, and the other members of my team also accompanied them. Upon arrival, I requested the team to explain the project to me so that I could better understand it, but they all left me alone with another group from my class.

Since we were all girls, it felt secure and comfortable to stay near the relative’s home of one of our team members. There were five of us in total, and we stayed in one room. We decided to order some pizzas and enjoyed them together. However, later on, the relative brought some home-cooked food, which we couldn’t refuse despite being full from the pizzas. We graciously accepted it and complimented the relative on the delicious food. For dinner, we also received a tiffin from the relatives, who were very supportive and took good care of us.

Process of Registration:

There is an online and an offline form available.
Fill in the details about team members’ names.
Provide a project overview.
Enter the college name.
Specify the course being pursued.

Project Exhibition:

The project exhibition is a state-level event. Students from various colleges across the state are invited to participate in this competition. Zeal College is managing the labs for students to present their projects. Participants need to bring their own laptops with their projects.

Our Project:

Our project is a women’s safety application built using Android Studio. This application is designed to enhance women’s safety. During our presentation, both the audience and judges appreciated our project. Here is a brief introduction to our project.

Day of Project Exhibition:

As we had to be there by 10 am, we all woke up early and got ready. Since we had to rely on public transport, it took some time to reach our destination, Zeal College. Upon arrival, I realized that my team hadn’t arrived yet, and after several calls, they finally made it to the college. Feeling exhausted, I wasted no time and asked them to brief me on the project we had to present. To my dismay, I received an unexpected response: “I don’t know much about the project. I’ve never worked on it. If you want to present it, you can check it yourself.” Moreover, the team leader lacked proficiency in English to effectively present the project.

At that moment, I regretted my decision to participate in the exhibition. However, relying on my knowledge of Android, I quickly opened the project and tried to understand it within 5-10 minutes. Despite my efforts, when we ran the project, we encountered errors, and neither the leader nor another teammate had any idea how to fix them. Feeling stressed, I reluctantly contacted our uncooperative project class mentor, despite their prior discouragement.

After being insulted by the mentor for not heeding their advice, I had no other option. I frantically searched for a solution on Google, fixed the issue within minutes, and tried to calm myself down. When the judges arrived, I took the lead in explaining the project, as neither the team leader nor the other teammate provided clear explanations.

Result of the Exhibition:

After the project reviews, it took some time for the results to be announced. We waited for an hour until all participants were called to the seminar hall, which was impressively spacious and well-arranged. I asked a friend from another team to capture photos and videos in case we won a prize.

To our delight, our project was awarded the “Best Innovative Idea” prize. I led the way onto the stage with my team members, feeling incredibly proud. Holding the cash prize and certificates in my hands, I felt a sense of accomplishment, especially considering how I had quickly grasped the project and fixed the bug within minutes.

After the program ended, I asked my team to share the photos and videos they had taken during the prize acceptance. However, they unexpectedly replied that they had forgotten to capture them. I realized it was not an innocent mistake but rather jealousy, as they had not secured any prizes themselves. Despite this, I remained composed and expressed my happiness at winning the prize.

Afterwards, instead of engaging in unnecessary conflict, I decided to go home with my friends. While my team leader went back to their family home with the cash prize, I returned home with just the certificates.

Day After the Result:

The day after, I went to college and saw a board congratulating a team that had won a prize at the competition. However, to my surprise and disappointment, my name wasn’t displayed on the board. Instead, it showed four members, including two who hadn’t even attended the project exhibition, along with the team leader who had no knowledge of the project. Seeing this, I couldn’t help but cry. I tried to compose myself afterward, but another unpleasant surprise awaited me.

The person in charge of distributing the cash prize refused to give it to me, citing the ridiculous reason that I wasn’t officially part of the winning team. Despite my protests, even our college project mentor replied unexpectedly, saying, “Yes, since you didn’t contribute financially to the project, you have no right to claim the cash prize.” This only added to my distress, and I couldn’t hold back my tears. I confided in my mom about the whole ordeal.

To make matters worse, our Head of Department (HOD) had previously discouraged me, stating, “Why are you even going to the project competition? It’s not your project, and I never gave you permission to participate.” It dawned on me that they were all trying to deceive me, and no one acknowledged my talent. It seemed that greed for money was the only thing that mattered to them.

Afterwards, the team leader threw a party for their friends to celebrate winning the prize, but they didn’t include me. This entire experience taught me a valuable lesson. Despite talent, nobody appreciated me, and not everyone is as genuine as you’d hope. It’s clear that money matters a lot to some, but through this project competition experience, I learned that I am capable of participating next time with a team mindset aligns with mine, as I am prepared to face such dismissive attitudes from people.

State-level project exhibition at Zeal Institute’s Project Competition