"I want to have a career in Finance, but I understand the fundamentals of Marketing well." "I should do Supply chain management as E-Commerce is booming like anything, then what about my plans of starting a business?"
Unlike people with some work experience and good insight into what they want to do, we freshers have a lot of dilemmas. We literally want to do everything that is possible. This was the exact mix of my brain back in May when I had to make the decision of joining new IIMs or NITIE. And I must agree, approx. 4 months in NITIE, and I am already a bit focused about my life and career. Although I am still a “Work-In-Progress inventory” I just want to travel to the future and see the “Finished Good”.
A lot of articles have glorified the beautiful, lush green and scenic campus that we have right in the middle of Mumbai, yes “MIDDLE OF MUMBAI…” so, I won’t delve into it. I want to talk about the things that transformed over-enthusiast, confused, probably lost young fellow into a composed and focused young man, that too in 4 months. This is the story of my journey at NITIE so far.
When I first entered the gates of NITIE on 30
th March 2018 for the interview round, I was surprised by the way my would-be seniors treated me. They helped me with every single thing. This really tells one about the culture and traditions followed in a B school. The crucial first year, you are somewhat dependent on your seniors. Which case study competitions should I focus on? Which companies and job profiles are suitable for my current profile for summer placements? Can I borrow your books? Can you teach me this concept by giving your summer project examples? Which teachers are really cool? Nearby places to hangout?, etc. With a very open culture, there exists no boundary that separates juniors from seniors when it comes to “Knowledge Transfer”. Suddenly 2 months down MBA life, you have collected 1-year worth of experiences, vicariously.
I won’t say NITIE is different on the basis of friends one makes here. As I believe, every institute offers one, opportunities to make great friends, learn from them, teach them something new. The point where NITIE departs from other institutes is the mix of natural and metropolitan environment that we have over here. Feel like talking to your friend about the new crush you have, go to the woods and have soul soothing discussion in the wilderness, calmness. Want to take your crush out on a date, grab uber and take her out to that fancy rooftop restaurant in Mumbai just a few minutes away, we literally have everything.
Apart from seniors and peers, the other human interaction I have in NITIE is with professors (They too are humans). One thing I observed here is – Profs are very smart, and you just can’t fool them that easily :p. Every teacher has a unique style of teaching. For e.g. Prof Mandi teaches from field experiences, Prof Kamble likes to start the first class with a case study and then to build upon the concepts at the end of the class. Teachers will give you enough knowledge, if you ask for it. Several interactions later, I finally feel that I have found direction to my career. I guess that was the whole point of joining this institute, this course called MBA – To find the right career path and try to walk/Run on it, to reach that distant goal.
If you have ever come across Johari window concept, you must know about the blind spot window/hidden window. For those who don’t know, these windows represent the things that you are unaware of about yourself, hidden capabilities, talents etc, may be because you never had opportunities to explore those avenues. The last 3 months, for me, lucidly showed me my hidden window. I did stuff, I never thought I would do – I sold handicrafts to strangers on the streets of Mumbai (As part of the Iconic MAHAMANDI event), I danced In the middle of a famous mall (As a part of Flash mob team), I participated in mini marathons in our campus and many more. And it’s just the beginning, I have many months to go and so many stories to make.
My journey in NITIE so far is full of experiences and stories that I love to tell my friends whenever I talk to them. I whole heartedly believe that whatever change that has happened in me in last 4 months is because of one decision I made on some day in the month of May – To join NITIE. I can’t believe what my life would have been if I were in any other institute. Also, I can’t wait to spend the next 15 – 18 months in this
God’s Own Campus, collate more stories and experiences.
Thanks, InsideIIM for giving me this opportunity. Cheers!
-Yash S Sarolkar
Batch of 2020, NITIE