Starting milestone, the batch orientation classes of ITC East 2019-20 Batch 9 & 10 started on 17th January with an energetic group of students altogether waiting for their new carrier in hospitality management course. Seven days of the workshop was initiated to educate the candidates with values and attitudes; to the situational awareness and the ability to read a situation as it unfolds to decide upon a response that yields the best result. Soft skills are increasingly becoming the hard skills of today's workforce. It's just not enough to be highly trained in technical skills, without developing the softer, interpersonal and relationship-building skills that help people to communicate and collaborate effectively.

Communicative English and ITES Trainer of Don Bosco Nitika, Ms Estrela Osta believes that a person cannot grow without the help of the people around him/her. Humans are social animals, that’s why we built society and we invented language for effective communication. Games were just an attractive way to teach them moral codes, soft skill values and teamwork. It was basically designed to let them know that they need each other and how to adjust and adapt themselves to the challenging environment and come out with a smiling face. Along with the theoretical knowledge, activities help the students to develop their own personalities and also encourage them to learn to work as a team.

The first-week classes were loosely based on domain knowledge and actively concentrated on bringing out the communicative, leadership and trust-building skills of every student. Students also enjoyed cooperating with Ms Estrela Osta and they went with the flow. Each activity was associated with the soft skills qualities like patient listening, effective communication, concentration, self-confidence, determination, team coordination, a right attitude which not only relishes the young mind but also encouraged them to be active and enthusiastic always in classes and in the workplace. They played different games like "Chinese Whisper", "Paper Models for Hotel Industry", “Goal Setting”, “Human Snake” and "Balancing the Ball and Bamboo Stick". Surprisingly the students who were strangers just a few days back started to get along with each other. Few students also showcased leadership quality and the rest actually agreed to listen to them. Thus, they started to act like a team and learnt the importance of Goal setting, Perception and Values, Time Management, Grooming; Team building, Money management, Importance of Communication, Attitude and Self Esteem. Hence the ideas of activities were more effective than just preaching about them in a closed environment.

Soon after the first week, students’ feedbacks were taken which was impressive. They paid full attention to the classes and showcased their learning through the chart paper presentation with an adequate explanation of the different 5 Star Hotels in Kolkata. In this way, they learnt more than just reading books and actually worked towards researching about the sector they are going to make a career in. The students were very happy to excel in the new field of hotel management and they thanked Don Bosco Nitika for such a great opportunity.