“If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.” -Martin Luther King Jr.
It was a long corridor, marble finished and with pin drop silence. I was sitting on a couch, with two boys next to me. But there was a lot of commonality amongst us. We all sat there in our fine business formals, with a file on our lap and butterflies in the stomach. We were next up for the interview. The two boys started talking amongst each other, and then took me in their conversation. All this while, we made the usual small talk, asking about each other’s academic background, hometown, simple conversations to divert our minds for a while. But recollecting all our personal thoughts at the same time.
As my turn came and I got up from my seat, dressed in Van Heusen, I brought myself together for this. That was it. As Van Heusen’s tagline says, “The Way Forward- Evolve everyday”, I walked ahead into the interview room. Coming out of the interview, a sense of accomplishment took over. I could successfully bring out the best of me in those 15 minutes. That was XIMBS’s interview, where I am studying currently.
Aditya Birla Group, which manufactures and markets Van Heusen in India, gave Van Heusen a tagline, “The Way Forward-Evolve everyday” are the words to live by. It gave me the courage to stride ahead, face challenges head-on and evolve for the good. It reminded me of those inspirational talks about not giving up in life. When we set on a journey, we except to sail smooth like a waltz. But a journey comprises of milestone. Reaching no milestone is easy, but every milestone is an achievement. The hack is to remember why you set on the journey in the first place, keeping courage, having confidence and never giving up, because only sky is the limit. I believe Van Heusen’s Power Dressing captures this confidence and this ‘never give up’ attitude perfectly. Now, finally in a B School, every time I put on my Van Heusen Business Formals, I also wear my confidence along, making Aditya Birla group significant in my life.
As mentioned earlier in my interview story, I wasn’t the one who broke the ice with those two other interview candidates, but it was them. And this one of challenge I faced in life. As I write this, I am still in the process of overcoming the challenge. One of the recent challenges in my life, has been moving to Bhubaneswar to pursue MBA at XIMB. One word we hear often in a B School is Networking. To make things worse, I was failing to participate in it due to my inhibitions. The challenge for me was the fact that I am an introvert. I have always been the person who was unable to break the ice, and hence preferred staying in her own cocoon. In a residential institute, away from family and with no friends, it seemed like a nightmare. Everyday seemed like a challenge. Then came a Sunday. On this Sunday, our batch was supposed to attend a session of Toastmasters, organized by the Literary society. As an attempt to break free, I volunteered for an extempore, as part of the session. The topic of the extempore was, ‘What I look forward to in a day’. While I obviously didn’t reveal my personal struggle, I spoke about life in a B School and how it is a different world altogether. I didn’t realize it would actually be a turning point. The person sitting next to me in that session was the first one to tell me that I spoke well. This was just the ice breaking I needed. I made friends slowly and eventually. From the whole episode, my learning was to overcome a challenge, it should be seen with a positive intent. Challenges are a competition in themselves, where you compete with your own inhibitions and limitations. The competition becomes easier when you know your competitor so well, know yourself, in this case. The only way is to keep trying, having faith with in yourselves and grab the opportunity to break free. Ending with a favorite but relevant quote,- “ There’s no lemon so sour, that you can’t make something resembling a lemonade”.
#ABGLP #ABGWOOME #XIMB