A Fresher At IIM Lucknow
No one told me that being a fresher at one of the best b-schools in India would be so rewarding (for all the Sheldons out there, SARCASM alert).
No one told me that being a fresher at one of the best b-schools in India would be so rewarding (for all the Sheldons out there, SARCASM alert).
The taxi stuttered to a near-stop as the huge gateways flanked by uniformed men were flung – well, more-fractionally-than-wide open, and thus began my journey in XLRI - early in the morning, in a rickety taxi loaded with more stuff than it could honestly hope to carry; with me nervously staring ahead and my mother excitedly taking in the sights of the place she’d come to dump her prodigal offspring off in.
Almost two months ago, as I entered Room No. C-401 of the new academic block for my PGDM registration, I had a lot of questions in my mind- Would I be able to cope up with the curriculum of the course? How would my classmates be like? Will I be at a disadvantage vis-à-vis my peers who had work experience? Would I be able to sleep?
With vigour, enthusiasm and the drive to motivate the incoming batch of students, NMIMS organises one of the best-in-class induction programs to welcome the new batch to the b-school. A week full of fun team building activities and serious business alike, the orientation week is a trailer of the two-year movie that MBA life at NMIMS is.
It was April 10, 2017, and the time was 8:34 pm to be precise. A mail flashed in the inbox which showed me -
Admission into the Top b-school of India; the sentence itself has some thrill in it....Ya, like every other CAT aspirant, getting admission in IIM- A/B/C became my dream of life. Working in 12 hrs shift and preparing for CAT in parallel was truly a slogging experience. But honestly it's worth it; as everybody says (I cannot claim to say as I still need to experience the 2 years of MBA life at IIMB).
“In an IIM, everyone is your friend, everyone is your competitor. Every possible series of events is happening all at once. Live that way and nothing will surprise you. “
1st July, 2017 - I was getting ready to go out with my friends to some place for fun when I received an admission offer mail from IIM Visakhapatnam. I had no words to express my feelings at that time because I was very happy and at the same time I was very nervous because I knew that I have to live in a different state for two years without my family. I had no work experience and my B.Tech college was also in Delhi so I never lived in a hostel before. So it was a new thing for me. I got the information that our classes will commence from 24th July onward. So I thought there is ample time before a rigorous study of MBA starts. I was wrong. On 6th July, I got a mail regarding the online MOOC's which is an online course of Managerial Economics and Financial accounting which I had to do before 17th July and it was mandatory. So I did not see that coming and it was a long course and I had to complete in such a short deadline. I knew that in MBA, a deadline is a sacrosanct and not a second above the deadline is tolerated. I was just not expecting studies to start that early. It was actually a very interesting course and very complicated one but IIM Bangalore online faculty videos in that course made the course a cake walk. So I studied for 6 hours every day for a week to complete it and I finished it a day before inauguration day which was on 17th. So I reached Visakhapatnam and the place surprised me. The place was a fusion of both Himachal and Goa as it has hilly places same as of Himachal and has beautiful beaches like Goa. So I attended the inauguration on 17th and it was very motivating as it showed that how we students of IIMs are responsible for taking this new IIM to a new level. I came to know in an inauguration that students came here from 19 different states which was quite overwhelming. During interaction with students and seniors, I came to know how talented they are and I was glad that I will be living with these talented people and work on projects with them. The campus was only 10 min away from hostel and campus was quite impressive as they provided the best infrastructure which was not expected in a baby IIM. So our batch classes started on 24th July and IIM Bangalore professors came to teach us which was very motivating in itself. So it was a very interesting day as IIM Bangalore faculty were of top quality and the experience they shared were very informative. On the first day they gave many assignments and case studies which were overwhelming and at that time I knew MBA life has started. I now know that my decision was right to go for IIM Vizag and I am sure that this institute will develop me personally and professionally.