"In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me lay an invincible summer"
- Albert Camus.
Frisson. That’s exactly what I felt as I entered the quaint campus of IIFT Delhi. A stark contrast to my previous alma mater, VIT University, IIFT is the perfect epitome of the phrase “Good things come in small packages”. Cradled in the heart of the city, yet far away from the hustle-bustle, IIFT provides for the ideal backdrop to push students toward academic excellence.
It was hard for me to leave the comfort of the familiar in favour of the unknown. However, in the two weeks, I have spent in IIFT, I am becoming fonder of this place with each passing minute. The college has a special way of prepping students for the rigorous life of a manager. Each college provides budding managers with a theoretical understanding of the skills needed to be an organizational leader, but IIFT goes one step ahead and prepares us in a practical manner via a comprehensive induction module which puts students to the test. I distinctly remember the Navy SEALs’ 40 % rule which I learned during the initial days of the module, “When your mind is telling you you’re done, you’re really only 40 percent done “. We were reminded of how we were capable of so much more than we realized, but only after fighting off the mental blocks established over the years.
It is quite difficult to pick the most transformative moments but two instances stand out. Like every other college, IIFT has a tradition of pairing up incoming students with senior year mentors who guide them through the different facets of a B-school. As a part of our assignment, we were asked to find out as much as we could about our prospective mentors. However, the twist was that we were supposed to do that without interacting with our mentors. Excited about this interesting endeavour, we rushed through the doors of the grand state of the art auditorium. What awaited us was a sight to behold. The whole senior batch had gathered in the atrium to assist us. The experience of walking up to random seniors and asking them if they could help us with information was indelible and organized chaos ensued. Innumerable friendships were forged that day and we realized that our seniors were an invaluable inventory of guidance and voices of experience to consult.
The second assignment brought the batch of 170 odd students together. IIFT is synonymous with a small batch size wherein everyone is known to each other, the beauty of which we used to observe in our senior batch. Their coordination was impeccable, to say the least. As juniors, barely a few days fresh into college, we were asked to describe our roommates and adjacent occupants with whom we shared a common bathroom (roomies and loomies). In the end, all their traits were to be combined and embedded into a fictional character with a distinctive background story. This act established the roots of bonding between students and transformed the way we approached unity on our close-knit campus. It's imperative to learn the importance of being in a community since we all are away from our families and need others more than ever. Integration was one of the key takeaways from this enthralling venture. It has been a week since the assignment and the batch unity formed is commendable.
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ABG Company:
I would like to work in a strategic capacity for the Aditya Birla Management Corporation Pvt. Ltd. (ABMCPL), the corporate powerhouse of the Aditya Birla Group. The ABMCPL is responsible for providing strategic functional leadership and specialist services to the ABG of companies worldwide.
My intention to work for ABMCPL is motivated by the fact that during the start of my managerial career I would like to gain experience across multiple industries instead of deep-diving into one. Furthermore, I would be dealing with pressing issues which would have a direct impact on the future of the Aditya Birla Group of companies.
Having worked as a Business Analyst for around two years in the best MNC of the travel domain, I bring the skills needed of a strategy consultant to the table. I also possess international experience which has taught me to step outside of my comfort zone and opened up new opportunities for me to develop new skills and encounter new experiences. As a professional, I have been exposed to more advanced processes and structures in more developed overseas markets.