When I first entered university, I didn’t really know about Rotaract. During my first year, some of my friends were already members, but I didn’t join at that time. Later, I saw how much they were enjoying it, and that made me interested in joining as well.

I’m not someone who is very interested in sports, so even though I wanted to get involved in extracurricular activities, sports wasn’t really my preference. Because of that, joining a club and doing volunteer work felt like the best option for me. That’s why I chose Rotaract.

Then, in my second year, I officially registered as a Rotaract member.

Before joining, I had already heard about the Ignite Sri Lanka 1.0 project through PR content, and that became my biggest motivation to join Rotaract. Because of that, I decided to join the Community Service Avenue. Within the avenue, there were two main projects: Swabha Samudra 2.0 and Ignite Sri Lanka 1.0. I applied to both, hoping to join Ignite, but I was selected as the Membership Coordinator for the Swabha Samudra project.

I accepted the opportunity and continued working in that role. During Phase 1 of the project, we had an award ceremony where I, along with one of my friends, was given the responsibility of creatively designing the traditional oil lamp. We completed it successfully, and everyone appreciated our work.

After that, our overseeing Vice President, Pabamini, gave me the opportunity to join the Ignite Sri Lanka project as a Team Coordinator in the Agricultural Sector. I happily accepted the opportunity and did my best to fulfill my responsibilities in that role.
The best memories I have are from the time I was just a member. During the Ignite project, we were always in Giribawa 🤣 and for Swabha Samudra, we were always at the beach. (That “Blue Beach” trip is something no one who went there will ever forget!) I really love these memories.

Later, I received one of the biggest opportunities in my Rotaract journey—becoming a Team Leader in the Community Service Avenue. However, with that role came many challenges. Through Rotaract, I learned a lot about life, especially how to balance academics, extracurricular activities, and personal life. I also learned how to multitask effectively and manage everything properly.

As a Team Leader, one of my biggest challenges was handling PR for the Ignite Sri Lanka 1.0 and 2.0 research projects. Managing six sections and three PR coordinators was not easy. However, my PR coordinators—Dinithi, Sansal, and Ayesh—supported me a lot. We worked day and night creating PR content such as captions, video scripts, voice scripts, and dubbing, all within a limited time frame. Getting approvals and publishing everything on time felt like a real challenge, but we managed to complete it successfully.

After that, the next major challenge I faced as a Team Leader was the Rota Tomorrow Competition. At that time, I was already busy with academics and avenue work, so I initially preferred to join the Event Committee. However, I was selected for the Competition Committee instead. I was a bit nervous about who my co-Team Leader and mentor would be.

Eventually, I was assigned a perfect team—my co-Team Leader was Nuvindya, who has been my friend since first year (she used to sit next to me in lectures!), and our mentor was Deepna. At first, I thought Deepna was strict, but later he became one of my closest friends in Rotaract. The three of us built a strong bond.

Together, we carried out a beautiful project called “Sihina Piyasara” for children with disabilities. Our entire team supported us throughout the competition period. We faced many challenges and a high level of stress, but somehow, we successfully completed the project.

One of the best achievements in my Rotaract journey was joining RT itself. I learned so many valuable lessons along the way. In the last term, Sihina Piyasara became the winning project and received 11 awards.

My biggest personal achievement was being recognized as the Most Outstanding Team Leader in the last term, which made me extremely happy and proud.

After my time as a member ended, I received one of the biggest opportunities in my Rotaract journey—joining the Rotaract Leadership Body as a Director in the Community Service Avenue.

This term, one of the greatest opportunities and blessings I received was having Dinithi as my Co-Director, and Pahan as the Overlooking Vice President of our avenue. Their support was a huge strength for me in carrying out all my duties in the avenue.

During this term, we successfully carried out Ignite Sri Lanka 2.0 despite facing many major challenges. At the same time, we also initiated a new project called Their Voice. This term was definitely one of the most stressful ones, but it was also filled with so many beautiful memories.

Just like how we were always in Giribawa last term, this time we practically lived in Higuranketha—we went there around three times a week 🤣. Experiencing village life and trying out new things there was truly an amazing experience.

At the same time, this term gave me a great opportunity to further develop my leadership skills. I’m especially grateful to all the members of my avenue for their continuous support, which helped us successfully carry out these projects in such a meaningful way.

I am truly very grateful to my Vice President Pabamini, and my directors Dinanga, Ravindu, and Darshi akka, because they were the first to recognize my leadership potential and gave me the opportunity to develop those skills.

I’m also thankful for my co–Team Leader Nuvindya, my mentor Deepna, and all my team members in Rotaract. A special thanks as well to Sayuri, Dilini, and Sasith, the co–Team Leaders in the Community Service Avenue.

And especially to my Co-Director Dinithi (love you so much ❤️), and our current Overlooking Vice President Pahan.

I especially want to mention Deepna— from the very beginning of my Rotaract journey in RT until now, you’ve been the one I could talk to about anything and everything. Thank you for being my best friend in Rotaract.

Of course, I’m grateful to every single member in my avenue.

Because of all of them, my Rotaract journey has become such a beautiful and unforgettable experience, filled with so many amazing memories. Thank you all so much. Through Rotaract, I’ve been able to explore so many things in my life, and I will always cherish these memories.

Rotaract helps me how to explore many new things in my life, face challenges with confidence, and balance my work effectively.

Because of that I truly love Project Ignite Sri Lanka, the Community Service Avenue, and Rotaract as a whole.

Viva La Rotaract!