All CAT aspirants have one thing in common; they are energetic, encouraged, and they dream of getting into one of the Premier Management Institutes in India.
I had a similar aspiration while appearing for CAT 2018. After months of dedicated preparations and hard-work, I was able to get a decent CAT percentile that helped me enter the Indian Institute of Management, Nagpur (IIM Nagpur). And, I knew that it was the platform I yearned for, that would help me shape my career by chiselling, scaling-up my abilities and by breaking me out of my comfort zone.
While many would consider their start with an Institute from the day of joining, I would consider my journey to have started the day I appeared for the IIM Nagpur interview in Bangalore. Since then the last year at IIM Nagpur has been a journey of great learning experiences and fond memories that are hard to forget.
It was on June 22, 2019, that I got offered the opportunity to join IIM Nagpur, and I knew that it was time to create some lifetime memories. The first week in IIM Nagpur started with an exciting note, with a host of events scheduled.
First was an Interaction with all the faculties, seniors and colleagues utilizing a formal inaugural platform in which Industry Expert Mr. Nitin Bawankule, then Country Director, India, Google Cloud was the chief guest.
Next in line, were numerous club induction programs that helped me understand the various student bodies that work in tandem/cohesion with the Institute to form a mechanism of unparalleled peer learning and test an individual’s creative conscience.
I had never in my life thought that working late at night doing group assignments, deciding the community’s future undertakings and attending the class the next day would be such a thrilling experience.
These are not just mere experiences but a necessity. Considering the uncertainties that lie in real life, these undertakings help a manager become ‘future-ready’ by breaking the shackles of comfort.
Not all that happens in IIM Nagpur is academic. Being a Premier Management Institute, it aims to provide all-round development and head-start to future managers through a plethora of extra-curricular and cultural activities.
People from diverse backgrounds and states study at IIM Nagpur, thus helping me get a taste of every part of the country and the chance to learn from them. All the festivals like Bihu, Lohri, Pongal, Diwali, Christmas, Eid and Holi along with Birthdays, were celebrated with utmost joy and feeling of belongingness.
National events such as Republic Day and Independence Day saw a host of programs organized by the professors, students, and staff. My personal favorite and a highlight to Republic Day had been the colorful and thrilling parade by the staff and students. Co-operation and Collaboration was the lesson I learned from that.
Numerous Guest Sessions by the clubs, committees, and communities, hosting Industry Leaders like Mr. Vinod Rai (former Comptroller Auditor General of India) and Padma Shri Dr. Shovana Narayan, to name a few, helped me shape my imagination through their enlightened views and expertise.
The orange city, being the Tiger capital of India, hosts some of the best and beautiful natural scenic views. Waking up early at dawn to the chirping of birds and the freshness of the lush green campus of IIM Nagpur had been one of my daily routines. To top it up, cold breeze of the Ambazari Lake at the heart of the city boosted my mind and body.
From the morning gym workout, attending the lectures by the prominent Professors, eating at the mess (the place for the light-hearted buzz) to ending the evening playing outdoors at one of the playgrounds or watching a movie at the open theatre, IIM Nagpur has given me something to cherish, remember and learn at every moment of my first-year journey.
It is quite impossible to pen down all the things experienced on a single page. One needs to be here to experience all this by himself. IIM Nagpur is truly the place; an MBA aspirant would want to be.
Bio of the Author
Vishal is currently in the first year of the Post Graduate Program in Management from IIM Nagpur for the session 2019-21. He has spent 39 months working for major MNCs like Cognizant Technology Solutions and Hexaware Technologies Limited as a Software Engineer in multiple technologies including Java, C, SQL, and Gosu and has worked for major Insurance clients from the US and UK. He has in-hand experience of working in all the three sectors of insurance namely - Policy, Claim and Billing through a tool named Guidewire. He finds his interests in content writing, novel reading, video making and editing, sketching, painting, guitar playing, learning new things and in sports like soccer and volleyball.