5 minute read
SUCCESS IN COLLEGE
How Kabir Mann achieved success in college by applying the study, communication, and leadership skills learned at Delphian
Kabir Mann, a Delphian alum from the class of 2021, was an active member of the student body. He successfully held various leadership roles on the student council, participated in the choir, played on the basketball team, and created in the ceramics studio. After graduating from Delphian, he enrolled at Chapman University in California, where he is set to graduate later this year with a bachelor’s degree in business finance and a minor in analytics.
Delphian Magazine: What made you decide to enroll at Chapman?
Kabir Mann: There were various reasons, but one of the things that stood out to me when I visited the campus was the statue of Ayn Rand with a quote from her book Atlas Shrugged near statues of Ella Fitzgerald and Abraham Lincoln. Anyone who’s read Atlas Shrugged, which is everyone who has done the Form 7 literature program, knows it is a controversial book, so when choosing a college, I appreciated that Chapman was bold enough to have such a permanent reference to it on campus in such proximity to other thought leaders.
The reading and literature program at Delphian helped me truly understand the significance of the statue. It also helped me develop an extensive vocabulary and quickly understand many references in class and socially. When someone mentions a book, I can often say, “I’ve read that.”
DM: How was the transition from academics at Delphian to Chapman?
KM: I’d say I didn’t have trouble with academics in college mainly because I knew how to use L. Ron Hubbard’s Study Technology™, which I learned at Delphian, and I was consistently able to use it to help me understand the subject well the first time.
Because I have this skill, I often tutor my classmates, which comes really naturally to me since I have various experiences doing it in my academic career, from when I did the summer internship at Delphian helping elementary students learn English to when I traveled to Australia and helped students use Study Technology™ in class.
Of all the things I learned, though, I’d say the skills I learned from the practical program made my academic education ten times more valuable than what I learned in the classroom alone. These skills have been the biggest contributing factor to my success in college.
DM: Can you give some examples?
KM: There are many to think of, but this one stuck with me. When I was on Form 6 at Delphian, I did a project helping organize the all-hands student service crews to make the campus look nice for our parents for Parents Weekend. This required me to use good communication, manage over a hundred students, and coordinate with dozens of staff. It also required me to help sort out problems and schedules for each student.
Learning about Mr. Hubbard’s communication theory in the classroom at Delphian and then being challenged to apply it in real life to communicate with each of the students in a way that will get the job done was beneficial then and has been really beneficial since then in my life and college. Being able to communicate well with whomever I am working with, be it my professors or peers, is a very important skill.
Also, the opportunity to be in charge of such a big activity was a unique experience for me. I was a freshman in high school and was allowed to lead over a hundred people in achieving a big job. I haven’t had another opportunity to be a leader of this magnitude to this day.
DM: What other sorts of leadership opportunities did you have at Delphin?
KM: I learned about leadership through the Leadership course in the classroom but also by being able to apply what I learned in practice–and being able to make mistakes and then learn from them.
While on student council, I was a bathroom captain, dorm captain, overall boys’ dorm manager, and student service manager. Each of these jobs helped me learn how to be a leader. They taught me not only how to get people to do the job of the activity at hand but also how to be a good person and how to really care for the people around me.
For example, there was one time when I discovered a few students being loud after quiet time in the evening. I wanted to help quiet it down, but before I knew it, I found myself getting angry with them, which caused an upset.
The next day, I found myself discussing the incident with the Head of the Upper School, where we discussed responsibility as a viewpoint (a concept covered in the Student and Parent Handbook).
This conversation, and many like it with other faculty members, taught me an important lesson about working through conflicts without turning yourself into the bad guy. The school challenged me to consider how I could have been more effective by being even more responsible for the situation and the individuals involved–how to get them to turn the music down and avoid an upset. I am a better person because of this.
The Delphian staff were always so available and involved in helping students in this way, and their impact has been very meaningful to me.
Learning how to be a good leader is perhaps the most invaluable life lesson I learned at Delphian. It has made the college scene and working with professors and peers relatively easy to navigate.
DM: What do you plan to do once you graduate?
KM: My long term goals are to pursue a career in venture capital. As a stepping stone to get there, I plan to help grow startup companies that I feel will influence our future.
