Before stepping into IIM Lucknow, I'd had less than a month of vacation. Due to the lack of time and my innate innocence, I hadn't thought about what I was getting my self into. In short, I hadn't really thought of what I wanted and what I was going to expect from a b-school in general.
Now that I stand here, waiting to begin term VI or the last term at IIM Lucknow from this Monday, only now do I realise that there are very few things that have such a profound impact on our lives and this b-school journey of mine was one of those. I would be lying if I said it wasn't a roller coaster ride. I would be denying myself and others the truth, if I said, it was one happy bubble that I easily sailed through. I had my highs and lows, I had my joys and sorrows and what's more is that I fell and I flew high. Yet, all in all, these 2 years gave me the wisdom of a lifetime. When I say wisdom, I am not referring to classroom knowledge which obviously was a huge part of it. I'm talking about life lessons that a 20-year-old me, had no clue about when I first stepped into the gates of IIM Lucknow on the 14th of June, 2016.
Here's what I have, 5 terms and a year and a half after...
1. You'll fall but you'll have to pick yourself up and move on
To me, falling was an unknown phenomenon before I came to IIM Lucknow. It was hard to believe that I wouldn't achieve something I'd aimed for, or the ones I'd trusted would lead me astray, yet when it happened, I learnt how to pick myself up. Sometimes with the help of others, sometimes just by myself. In this struggle, I learnt that the only way forward can be found when we move on from the roadblocks and mishaps of the past. A b-school is just the perfect place to learn this, especially if you're a fresher.
2. You'll make friends, you'll make acquaintances and you'll lose friends and everyone else
The pressure when it gets to you can make you gain or lose friends in the way you deal with the hard times. There are amazing people that you'll meet in these 2 years but there are also those who'll make you question why. You'll try to keep every relationship you've built near and dear to you, but your ambitions and goals will take a front seat and you might just lose them all. You won't just impact the bonds you've created in those 4 walls but also the ones you've built over the years and this is what brings me to the very next life lesson.
3. Time management is the key to a happy and successful life
To meet all those 23.59.59 pm deadlines. To meet all the personal commitments you've made. To have enough time to party, participate in all that you've wanted and to save yourself from failing, there is just one key and it is time management. If you miss a deadline, it is very likely that the prof won't accept your submission. If you need to spend your 2 years without fretting if you'll make it through, then time management is something you need to figure, imbibe and live with for the rest of forever.
For the sake of not sounding too preachy, I'll have to stop narrating my life lessons from these 2 years in a semi-cynical and semi-fun way. As I await the next term, that will be critical and life-changing in a lot of ways, I also await the last 3 months of college and fun that I'll leave behind to maybe never go back to college ever again. No matter what and how things pan out in your two years, the one thing that remains with you is the 2 extra years of college fun that you've had when it's about time to leave.