Describe an idea you had for improving something at work or college – IELTS Cue Card

Describe an idea you had for improving something at work or in college

• When and where did you have this idea?
• What was your idea?
• Who did you tell about your idea?
• And explain why you thought your idea would make an improvement.

Sample Answer 1

Ideas can be powerful tools of development if executed properly. When working in a particular field for a prolonged time, it is typical to come up with ideas for improving productivity or the general structure of things. Such ideas should always be communicated regardless of their level of efficacy. I remember having a similar idea during my first semester of college. I had this idea in the corridor on my way to the computer laboratory.

Ideas usually materialize in our minds when we observe our surroundings. Observation brings various issues to our notice, which leads to the formation of ideas for solving such problems. Similarly, one such day I was observing our college corridor, and it seemed very bare and unappealing. I thought about this issue for the better part of my computer class that day before an idea struck my mind. I had the idea of placing potted plants before the entrance to each classroom to make the corridor more attractive.

At the time, I thought the idea was brilliant and could be a significant improvement to the college ambiance. However, I started to have second thoughts about presenting the idea to my class coordinator or the administration. The first person I told about this idea was our economics teacher, a young professor and a bit easy-going. After discussing the idea with him, he praised my solution and encouraged me to talk to the college administration.

I gained substantial confidence in my idea after that discussion with my professor. I thought that this idea might help make the college hallways and corridors more inviting, and at the same time, the potted plants will keep the air fresh.

Sample Answer 2

Revolutionary ideas hold the power to transform lives in a blink of an eye. I take pride in sharing a similar incident in my life. In the final year of my graduation, I came up with a significant idea to conveniently help disabled students access their classrooms.

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So, the college that I studied in had approximately 50 wheelchair-using students. However, the college had done close to nothing to make the infrastructure accessible for them. One day, during a lecture, I glanced out of my classroom and saw a few people gathered at a spot, struggling to pick up a wheelchair to help the disabled person reach his class. And so, I came up with the idea of constructing ramps all across the campus. Now, getting cemented ramps built would have been a bomb to my pocket. Not to mention, it also needed plenty of permissions and approvals. I decided to dodge this hassle and get a few wooden planks fixated as ramps.

I shared this idea with my group of friends. They were ready to give me a helping hand in this cause. Thus, the next day, each of us brought a few planks and began our mission.

We managed to create temporary ramps for wheelchair users in almost two days. At last, the idea was successful and helped them get inside and out of the building effortlessly.

Sample Answer 3

The world has endured quite a bit of turmoil since March 2020. With the coronavirus pandemic ravaging countries, their governments, and workforces, it is an experience that people never thought they would have in their lifetime. One silver lining that has come out of these hard times has been the development of Distance learning/working and the diminishing stigma associated with it. 

I never imagined that I would be completing an entire year of my Bachelor’s degree over the internet. During this year, many students faced issues trying to cope with the increased anxiety, stress, and the new method of learning. One day, I had an idea that would help consolidate all the learning material provided by our university.

My idea is to turn our material into an online library or a reserve using cloud tools. I hope it will be of succor to students who can’t attend the entire class due to network issues. We will create a shareable link to folders that will be segregated by semester, subject, and date. This will allow students to access exactly what they are looking for, and it will also allow them to upload their material. In this way, using the miracle of the internet, we would collaborate and it would instill a feeling of camaraderie in us. We might be in different parts of the world but, we would be together in this uncharted territory of online education.

I have shared the idea with other students and I’ve received a good response. The improvement I hope to bring is to eradicate the gap in education and problems caused by network issues. Many students have experienced burnout and frustration because they cannot hear their professors or understand the concepts being taught in class due to distortion in audio and video. This library will ideally be a one-stop solution to their problems with the curriculum.

Vocabulary

• Turmoil:

  a state of great disturbance, confusion, or uncertainty.

  Ex: The countryside was in turmoil by the end of the King’s rule.

• Camaraderie:

  mutual trust and friendship among people who spend a lot of time together.

  Ex: The feeling of camaraderie was evident in the team.

• Succour:

  assistance and support in times of hardship and distress.

  Ex: What was left was not enough to succor a raccoon, let alone a human being.

• Instilled: g

  radually but firmly establish (an idea or attitude) in a person’s mind.

  Ex: He instilled a feeling of fear in the farmers.

• Uncharted:

  (of an area of land or sea) not mapped or surveyed.

  Ex: They were frightened of being in uncharted waters.

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