A common notion prevails that after belling the cat and gaining admission into a top grade Bschool, all worries in life face a dead end. I have heard numerous people saying this to me, “
You are in a top Bschool, what more do you want”. Does the journey really end at the gates of a Bschool or is it just the tip of the iceberg?
The journey before cat and until selection in a bschool is in itself very strenuous and uncertain. Having gone through all of this, I know how much effort one puts in it to sail through these arduous days. However, also having seen the other side of prism, I do realize that life inside a bschool is also not all that easy and smooth sailing as it otherwise seems. In a bschool you are among the best minds of the country, who are all in the pursuit of outdoing each other in the race towards the coveted jobs in the campus. Surmounting peer pressure is another herculean tasks. You will keep vacillating between finance, marketing, operations, consulting, finding it difficult to lift the facade that lay ahead of your own genuine interest. It won’t be long before you realize that PORs are also important and soon you will also be joining the chase to acquire a POR. Your friends would be all agog to religiously participate in an inordinate number of case study competitions making you feel that if you do not win a case study you would probably not even get a shortlist in final placements.
Inundated with so many thoughts, life in a Bschool is not easy. However, having being through this pressure in the last one year, I have realized one thing, you bother yourself with what you allow to be bothered with. At every point in life you will come across people who with all alacrity try to make you feel that the whole world is right apart from you. Shun these people away. You are better off yourself. In order to survive this ordeal, it is important that you have faith in yourself, faith in the fact that if you have made it so far, you do possess the discerning skills to drift through anything that comes your way. Have a clear sense of what you want in life instead of just following the tide. For if you are not convinced about your priorities, be ready to be vexed by myriad opinions and views around you.
If you are confident about your goals and do not get swayed by the herd mentality, life at Bschool can be really fun. These colleges serve as a confluence of various cultures, traditions, ideas and lifestyle. You get to celebrate almost all festivals in the span of two years. You evolve as a human being gathering experiences while living with the best minds of the country. You create memories for lifetime to cherish. You emerge as a transformed individual equipped with the prowess required to face the world ahead.
For all those who are looking forward to join a Bschool this year, my suggestion would be to think on your feet and have a reassured confidence in yourself. Learn from others and aim for that which you are convinced you want to do, something that your heart resonates with….you will end up much more happy and satisfied than most other Bschool graduates.
Written By Anwesha Bhowmik, PGDM candidate in IIM Kozhikode. Anwesha has a penchant for writing and believes in the saying that "writing is the painting of voice". Anwesha is an electronics and communication engineer , currently she is the coordinator of Industry Interaction Cell, IIM Kozhikode(Class of 2016)
