Scholarship Day Function at SSN

 
Scholarship day Function @ SSN
 
 
The onset of the month of November had the SSNites buzzing. As the D-day- 4 November 2009-arrived, the activities had reached a feverish pitch. The reason-the students' hard work during the previous year was being rewarded at the Annual Scholarship Day function. In addition, the college was gearing up to meet the esteemed Chief Guests for the day- the Union Minister for Human Resources and Development, Mr.Kapil Sibal and minister of Higher education for TamilNadu, Dr.Ponmudi.
 
The Management, staff of SSN College has always been encouraging and the scholarships awarded every year to the deserving students have been a motivating factor in the lives of many students. Hence, it comes as no surprise that SSN Scholarship Day Function is one of most-awaited events in the SSN Calendar. The scholarship Day Function began at 2.30 p.m.with a short prayer, followed by the distribution of scholarships to about 475 students from the First year BE students to MBA students of the college. Scholarships worth Rs.20 crore , on the whole were given away by Padma Bhushan Dr. Shiv Nadar, Founder, Mr. V.S.Arunachalam, former Scientific Advisor to the Minister of Defence,Government of India. The scholarships were awarded in four different categories- Merit Scholarships, Merit-cum-Means Scholarships, Walk-in-Walk-Out scholarships, Sports Scholarships. This was followed by a short tea break at 4 p.m.
 
The second part of the function witnessed the presence of the guests of Honour, Mr.Kapil Sibal, and Dr.Ponmudi. A brief audio-visual presentation about the life at SSN Campus highlighted the various aspects of the college including the e-learning initiative. Next, Ms.Kala Vijayakumar, President, SSN Institutions, introduced the Chief Guests for the day. Mr.Kapil Sibal and Mr. Ponmudi then gave away the four scholarships to one student representative of each category. Next, Dr.Ponmudi delivered the introductory keynote address, recounting his views on the state of education in India today, with some humorous anecdotes interspersed with the address. Mr.Kapil Sibal's concluding keynote address, on the other hand, began on a more serious note. Mr. Sibal emphasized the need to improve the standard of basic and higher education in India, in addition to developing the field of vocational education. He stressed the importance of research and building up of a knowledge base to bring the Indian education system on par with the international ones. A vote of thanks delivered by Dr.Shiv Nadar, brought this session to its close. But the show was far from over.
 
Here at SSN things are done differently. An elegant, simple Scholarship distribution ceremony, devoid of over-the-top-grandeur, certainly set SSN apart from the ordinary college. Yet, the cultural show that followed was anything but simple. It was a grand effort by the students of SSN.A violin concert by Bala, dance performance by Vaishnavi were part of the show. However, the highlight of the cultural show was a music performance by the famous playback singer Karthik. He gave voice to many popular film songs, keeping the audience enthralled. His melodic strains and enthusiasm provided an edge-of-the-seat, thrilling experience to the listeners, who thoroughly enjoyed the show. Thus, the event-filled evening came to a musical conclusion and it would be fair to say that the Scholarship Day function was a very memorable one, not only for the scholarship awardees and their families but to the SSNites overall.