A B-school Creating A Difference

We all have different expectations for our dream MBA colleges. Apart from placements, we look for good pedagogy, a proper work-life balance, infrastructure and etc. But do we actually care about giving something back to society? I guess we all do but do we care about doing something like this during our MBA life? SIMSR as a college provides multiple opportunities for the same. It cares about imparting not just management education but also a boost of human values is inculcated among the students. Time management, Crisis management, Global exposure, etc are all parts of a rigorous B school learning but what differentiates a college from others is what makes it a great and holistic learning experience for the students. Here wholistic development is of prime importance. Ankur- ELI (Experiential Learning Initiative)  is the CSR step initiated by SIMSR to bring ethical and social cause as a part of the decision making in future managers. This initiative involves building English proficiency in underprivileged students of Somaiya Vinay mandir. The initiative includes activities like : ·      content and curriculum designing for kids which is a part of the student-driven activity. This content majorly focuses on building Verbal, Writing, and Listening skills among students. ·       The initiative also includes frequent Home Visits (by students) to experience real-time challenges faced by these kids.

How it helps budding managers?

Well, this isn't just a post-class volunteering social activity done by the students. Many managerial skills can be learned from this such as: ·      Planning-as the content(relevant as per the board standards) is actually designed by the MBA students and then approved by the faculty. ·      Leading-Well we get a hands-on experience of teaching a class and trust me on this-It is NOT easy. As the school students are linguistically not acquainted with the Hindi or English language. ·      Controlling-This isn’t just a short term project which has a completion date. This process goes on for 2 years until the passing out students and the faculty trains the freshers batch to continue the activity. We monitor the progress of each and individual students until they become proficient enough to read and understand the English course curriculum. ·      Teamwork and ethics- The MBA students are divided into groups to cater to different classes and right from planning, execution, and monitoring they work together to learn and work together. This is just a part of what a b-school has to offer to the students of MBA/PGDM. A weekly activity that is not only creating a difference in the society but also making socially responsible managers who will eventually have to work towards the corporate CSR activities. This clearly makes us #ReadyForNewWorld. My experience with such activities has been nothing less than sheer bliss. In addition to heavy dosage nostalgic moments, we as upcoming leaders of tomorrow have the responsibility of changing our society for the better. And to start something like this at such an early stage in life is not just a matter of pride but a blessing in disguise. As Rabindranath Tagore said “Where the mind is without fear, Where the knowledge is free” -we are not there yet but soon we are going to be.