One Year In IIM Shillong | Ft. Pankaj Ranjan, IIM Shillong

The incredible journey of an MBA does not start on the first day of college. It begins with the idea of going for a degree and ending with finally getting that perfect B-school. After a year of preparation, hard work and slogging, finally came the day when I saw the message for the first time- “Congratulations. You have been shortlisted for Full-time Post Graduate Program in IIM Shillong”. This gave me an immense sense of pride and boosted my ego. After all, I had an excellent percentile, a decent work experience, and a very diverse background and was admitted for one of the most prestigious institutes of the country.

On June 20, 2019, I reached the campus gates, completely drenched in the rain yet full of excitement. We were welcomed by the PGP18 batch members who guided us in the initial days and some of them even became my best friends through the journey.

I always thought that I was a nyctophile who can work through the darkness of nights very efficiently. This belief was tossed out of the window when the Remedial week, thousands of assignments and assessments, and corporate competitions barged in my life. The pressure mounted further as club/committee inductions picked up speed. They not only gave me a good idea of what happens on the campus but also humbled me down. Meeting people from contrasting backgrounds and seeing their accomplishments burst the bubble of overconfidence that had taken me through the atmosphere.

Then came the part where the word Shillong started making sense in the name IIM Shillong. What came as a total surprise in this somewhat hectic journey was the sustainability week and the sustainability trek. We were apprised of what sustainability and corporate sustainability actually meant. The impact sustainability has on businesses and how it can be incorporated in different domains was definitely an eye-opener. It ended with a trek to Mawphlang, and that’s where the batch finally realized what nature truly is and what serenity meant.

Partcicpating in the hosting of a plethora of events like Nirvana - the first-ever cultural fest of IIM Shillong, Business Leadership Summit, Khlurthama - the Management Fest of IIM Shillong while managing the placement season, academic rigor, case competitions, guest lectures by eminent personalities and personal life was a tough task. It made the concept of adapting to a continually changing environment and being future-ready a habit. This went to the extent that when coronavirus made the world wrecking entry, we were unfazed in the tides of time and smoothly transitioned to the concept of work from home in the internships.

I think that one year in IIM Shillong has been a humbling and life-altering experience with so many ups and downs that the fear of the future has been wiped out from my heart. I crave a new challenge every day, which can be attributed to the great year in IIM Shillong. Looking forward to the next one eagerly!!!

About the Writer

Pankaj is currently in the PGP 2019-21 batch of IIM Shillong and is a Civil Engineer from BITS PILANI Hyderabad Campus. He has 33 months of work experience in Accenture Solutions Private Limited as an Analytics Advisory Analyst with expertise in domains like Data Analytics and Data Visualization and has worked in verticals like Procurement, Supply Chain and Retail & Marketing Analytics.