Media Release
Mangaluru, Aug 12: Keeping in mind the purpose behind the establishment of St Ann’s College of Education in 1943, explicitly, to provide professional and job-oriented educational training to women, with Mother Josephine as the Superior General, the college organises an Annual Mother Josephine Lecture by eminent scholars/educationalists about issues of education, the status of women and several others. On this occasion, the Alumnae Association ignites success by connecting alumni, supporting student success, and advocating it with credible and collaborative accomplishments.
The Mother Josephine Memorial Lecture 2024 was held on August 10 in the college conference hall. Vasanthi Hariprakash, award-winning journalist and speaker, founder-CEO, Pickle Jar Media delivered the lecture on the topic 'Work-life Harmony: How to build your inner voice to empower you'.
The speaker began by taking a moment of pause and reflection to contemplate the things we had to accomplish in life to start the day’s activities in a peaceful manner. Vasanthi touched upon two aspects that are important for carrying out multitasks especially for women balancing different roles like a student, a mother, a sister or a homemaker. "The first aspect is to build a dimension of a purpose in life. Each one needs to identify the talent within oneself and see how it amplifies the people around us. The second aspect is that the inner voice enriches the outer voice. Our inner voice is the conscience that decides between right and wrong and sometimes it can also turn against us creating hesitation, fear and impediments," she said.
To fulfil the above aspects, the speaker mentioned about two tips i.e. 2Ns. "The first N is the art of negotiation. This deals with how we negotiate between families and things of purpose we are set up for. As we negotiate our ways, let us carry the notion that the more we give others, the more we receive. The second N speaks about Networking. Building an allied network or building sisterhood around us which remains for life. This also includes the 3Cs- community, collaboration and conversation," she said. Vasanthi ended her talk by giving examples of 3 great personalities such as Basmati from Jharkhand, Dr Somdutta Singh, an entrepreneur and Kamakshi Paati, from Chennai who have been instrumental in uplifting society’s morale by playing incredible roles. The lecture was followed by a question and answer session where the alumnae actively interacted with the speaker.
Dr Sr Dorothy D’Souza AC, the president of the Alumnae Association welcomed and introduced the speaker. A total of 250 alumnae were present. Anitha D’Cruz, principal, St Ann’s Teacher Training Institute, Mangaluru and joint secretary of Alumnae Executive Committee proposed a vote of thanks. Dr Vijayalakshmi Naik, associate professor, Srinivas University, Mangaluru and member, alumnae executive committee anchored the programme. Dr Sharmila L Mascarenhas, assistant professor and secretary of the Alumnae Association, synchronized the occasion.
Sr Rose Agnes AC, assistant provincial superior, St Ann’s Convent, Karnataka province, Sr Maria Smitha AC, superior and joint secretary St Ann’s Institutions and ex-officio of Alumnae Association, heads of various institutions, former principal and faculty were present.
The programme was followed by the annual general body meeting where the minutes of the previous meeting, report of activities and budget statement were read out. The planning of activities and reflections on the lecture was conducted. An array of entertaining games by Dr Farita Veigas, Principal, St Aloysius Institute of Education, Mangaluru and executive member and Dr Flosy D'Souza, professor, St Ann’s College of Education and executive member gave a perfect nostalgic mood to the reunion event.