Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. To keep our faces toward change and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable - Helen Keller
Long before I could pack my bags, wait for the final call from an IIM, and feel the trepidation, a nationwide lockdown happened. It took a while getting used to this at first, but the 'online MBA' had made its mark and was here to stay. It has been a rollercoaster ride since then, with all the highs and lows. Of course, parents have to bear my tantrums all the time, and this could be considered as one of the perils of doing “off-campus MBA”. Despite all of these, I try to make it a point to have dinner with my family and take a day off on weekends. Sometimes that even means staying up late or waking up early to finish assignments.
But it has been a fun ride, nevertheless.
A few of my good skills are time management and prioritization. We must be able to plan our time wisely on weekdays and weekends to study effectively. Self-discipline, learning zeal, and communicating with our peers play a big part in learning effectively.
Sometimes, it gets weird to think that we have never met the people with whom we are interacting daily. With brainstorming theories emphasizing the importance of teamwork within close physical proximity, all of us are making group projects while being miles apart from each other.
It all began with club assignments, that started even before we got a glimpse of our class schedule(which is really hectic, of course). We were distributed into groups of 16 students, and Unnayan, the Music and drama club of IIM Bodh Gaya gave us the compulsory assignment of making a short-film including all 16 members with a deadline of just a week. We knew we were getting a break-through of an IIM student. Amidst lockdown, it was almost impossible for us to write a script, make posters, shoot the scenes, and edit the movie that too without any prior experience. It felt like we moved mountains to get that one video ready. Our theme was 'transition of times' for the short film. With all the excitement, we chose the 1980s phase to present the retro vibes. I had to search extensively for one house, which looked like the typical '1980s home', and dressing up like a 1980s girl was a little tough too. The movie was shot finally and presented in front of the entire batch. Everyone appreciated our short film a lot. Within a week, we became such good friends that it felt like an age-old friendship. Not to forget, the intro sessions, our late-night gossips, and our seniors giving us the sacrosanct 'campus gyaan'.
We made reports on economic depression for the Economic club’s assignment, devised a strategy for a new product launch for MasQ(Marketing Club), supply chain management presentation for Operations club, all presented on a GMeet. It was followed by the hard-core selection process for various committees. I was fortunate to be selected as the Media and PR Representative for my college. Sometimes, it makes me wonder that it all started 3 months back, and now we are done with mid-terms too.
'Am I audible', 'am I visible' became our new introduction greetings for the presentation. Class discussion in the chatbox became the new classroom ‘chatter’.
It has been a good learning experience for me, so far.
Amid all the crises, IIM Bodh Gaya has truly redefined its pedagogy to make mindful leaders. I am elated to be part of the IIM family.