Mangaluru: The department of English, St Agnes College (Autonomous) conducted a day-long national level workshop ‘Smart Art’ on ‘Communication Skills in Unconventional Careers’.

Dr Ravishankar Rao, associate professor, department of English, Mangalore University was the chief guest at the inaugural ceremony. Among the dignitaries present were Sr Dr Maria Roopa, the joint secretary of St Agnes College who was the guest of honour, principal Sr Dr M Jeswina, who presided over the programme, and flagged off the workshop with her greetings and good wishes, and Sandhya Nayak, the HOD, English, gave an overview of the workshop, Raveena Mascarenhas was the master of ceremonies and Geetanjali Prabhu rendered the vote of thanks after the inaugural.

In his key-note address, the chief guest spoke about the importance of good communication for meaningful careers; he also said that aptitude should be considered when making careers, particularly in these times, and students should have options which are unconventional and wider in scope.

The workshop was conducted in two sessions spread over the day. The first session ‘Do What You Love’ was conducted by Samanvitha Shetty, an actress and advocate hailing from Bengaluru. The session introduced the participants to various options like theatre, acting and voice over, which can be interesting careers for those who have some skills.

The second session, ‘Tell a Tale’ conducted by Jyothi Rao Kunjoor was on storytelling and she imparted various techniques of professional storytelling. The sessions were interesting and the audience were involved in activities of the workshop.

There were 137 participants in total, who came from various colleges. A few participants presented papers and Dr Geralyn Pinto moderated the paper presentation session.