My Journey To IIM Nagpur || Shahbaz, Class Of 2020-22

It was 26th April 2019, I was sitting at one of the benches in my huge office campus with a clutter of thoughts that came as bombardment all at once and pushed me to a verge where I had a tear or two in my eyes.

Before that, I was offered a job opportunity with an IT giant fresh out of college. During my undergraduate days, I always thought of doing an MBA. Still, as soon I was selected, I became complacent and went along with the flow, trying to adjust and be happy with whatever life threw at me. Somewhere down the line, the thought of pursuing an MBA was forgotten. That feeling started coming out after a while and was combined with my professional and personal setbacks. Eventually, this pushed me towards my breaking point on that day.

But as the saying goes, life will knock you down but what is essential is that you always choose to get back up. That thought and the immense faith that my father had in me proved to be a catalyst for me chasing my original dream again. At the beginning of my preparation, I just set my goals to get into a decent B-School. Then, not even in my wildest imagination did I think I would get into an IIM. I started my studies along with my work at the office, which often led to sleepless nights. Further, I had to deliberately miss the office parties and get together with friends to focus on my preparation. On the day of the exam, I came out of the center, feeling I may have underperformed.

It was 10th May that I got the mail for a personal interview from IIM Nagpur. At that moment, I was feeling both happy and nervous. The interview was scheduled for 12th May, and I could not sleep the night before that. During my interview, I was given scenarios related to my work experience and was asked what my approach would be. I was also asked why I would like to do an MBA and some questions related to my graduation. As it was my first interview online, the whole process went exceptionally well.

Then it was the wait for the final result. It was 18th June, 3:30 pm that a mail popped up with the senders being the admission office of IIM Nagpur, which read, "I am glad to inform you that you have been selected for admission to IIM Nagpur's Post-Graduate Programme in Management." I read those lines multiple times to let the feeling sink in that I had achieved my dream, which at the start, I thought was extremely difficult. That instance was filled with happiness; even now, I can feel that moment when writing this. While conveying this information to my parents, I burst into tears of joy, as my heart was filled with a sense of satisfaction that I had done justice to my father's absolute trust in me, and I can finally call myself an IIMer.

The admission and student induction process was smooth, systematic, and exceptional, even though it was online. Currently, I am in my third term of the course. Within these six months, I got selected into a club of IIM Nagpur. Now I have entered a hectic schedule to balance studies with perpetually chasing deadlines of assignments, various competitions, and club work. Within that time frame, the opportunity to learn with the country's best minds was enormous for me. In addition to that, I have already been part of some memories which I will cherish forever, and looking forward to many more to come. So for all those who think they are in the same boat as I was, the only things required are a burning desire to succeed, a steady implementation of your plan, self-belief, and the best time to start is now.

About the Author - Shahbaz is a PGP 2020-22 student of IIM Nagpur and an Executive Member of the Cineastes club. He worked for a leading IT giant and has 51 months of work experience in the life sciences and banking domain. He is a guitarist and likes to play cricket, lawn tennis, and watch movies, and he intends to venture into Operations and Consulting in the future.