Jamshedpur, Aug. 17: Vivek Maheshwari, a final year student of engineering at the Indian School of Mines (ISM), truly believes in leading from the front.

Vivek was one of the four chosen ones to represent the country in the 9th International Youth Leadership Conference, in Prague, in Czech Republic, in July this year.

Organised by Civic Concepts International, a non-profit Czech organisation, this six-day long conference was attended by almost 150 students from across 40 countries in the world.

Vivek, an ex-student of the city-based Jamshedpur Public School, made it to the finals of the prestigious conference after passing through some gruelling rounds of online tests.

The rigours continued as the candidates had to undergo various simulation activities throughout the conference.

?The road to Prague was a month-long process. It all began when I had to participate in an online essay writing competition. Other tests followed, on the net, to judge one?s leadership skills and knowledge in a particular area of interest,? Vivek said.

?These simulation workshops were definitely a learning experience. One of them was on the European Parliament, while three others were on the charters and processes concerning the United Nations,? says Vivek.

He also added that out of the various exercises, the one that he enjoyed most was the international media panel discussion on human trafficking organised at the seminar.

?Top media personnel from all across Europe attended this seminar and it was really nice to know about media functions in other countries through interacting with other candidates,? said Vivek.

Though the conference was on cross-cultural exchange of young ideas concerning the future of world leadership, the entire Asia-Pacific region was conspicuous by its absence from the discussions. But Vivek has little regrets about it.

?Yes there was little discussion on Indian or Asian issues but through these interactions I got to know a lot more about other cultures and their opinions of the Indian culture and people,? a beaming Vivek said.

?I was surprised to see how our opinion is completely different from what people from other countries think. Moreover, I gained a lot of confidence after attending this conference and of course, there has been a boost to my leadership skills as well,? he further said.

The icing on the cake was his unexpected visit to Paris, which happened because of the deluge in Mumbai.

Vivek, who has been actively associated with various extra-curricular activities all through his academic life, wants to rule the corporate world with an MBA degree after he completes his engineering studies.

?This experience would surely help me to expand my horizons and rise up in the graph of leadership, which is the prime requisite for a good manager and a good leader,? he signed off.