‘Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts.’
These words of Winston Churchill reverberated throughout my first year of MBA. Plenty of you must be eagerly waiting to join the Business School of your dreams. Here’s a sneak peek into how bumpy the ride can be and what awaits you as you proceed. So let’s steer back to where it all began from.
Prologue: Butterflies in the stomach before riding the roller coaster -
As the much-awaited notification came on the night of April 29, 2018, I was jubilant. Months of toil, hard work, sacrifices had paid off. Like many, I too have secured a spot at the prestigious Indian Institute of Management Lucknow. That night I couldn’t sleep. The excitement and anticipation wouldn’t let me. In the next two months that followed, I reached out to as many friends and seniors studying there, as I could and felt that I was ready to embark on this MBA journey. But sometimes we really don’t understand until we embark on the journey.
A New Chapter Begins
The first day on this campus was surreal. Meeting 450 odd people from various educational and work backgrounds, and listening to inspiring speakers and faculties at the induction created a different motivation. Even before the feeling could sink in, we were barraged with classes, quizzes, project submissions, mandatory batch meets, CV preparation for Summers and the list is endless. There’s been so much buzz on how beautiful this campus is and of the various facilities it offers, but the first 4 months gave us no opportunity to explore them.
An Ordeal Or Bliss?
With no experience of hostel life, I would accept that settling here was very difficult at first. The variations from ‘Wow’ to ‘Oh no!’ in the mess food, the sea of new faces striving to create a spot for themselves and to top it all the stifling summer of Lucknow, made me reflect on my decision to be here (Interactions later revealed that a lot of my peers felt the same way too). It was all new for me.
But I was never a quitter, I took one day at a time, blending into the vagaries that this place initially offers. A few weeks into the course, we got an opportunity to not just showcase our talents, but to know our batch-mates. A series of Inter-Section battles and competitions united us like nothing before could. It made me realize that survival here is not such a tumultuous task after all.
The Race To The Summit Begins
Now it was time for some social validation, and we were presented with opportunities to join various student committees. I was super excited for this and put in the best effort (according to me back then). But the not so positive outcome shattered me. I had never experienced such a failure before. I wanted to sulk for a few days too, but the immediate exams didn’t even allow me to do so. And as the exams ended, our quest to attain our dream Summer jobs began. This drill actually helped me overcome failure and extract the positive learnings. The learnings from this experience helped me outshine in the future opportunities that were presented to me.
The long hours of CV review and Interview preparation made us forget about the sweltering heat and sleepless nights. All these efforts paid off when the entire batch bagged amazing summer internships in record time. There was a sigh of relief on every face.
The Calm After the Storm
Life suddenly felt so peaceful. The same campus where I was feeling difficult to fit in a few months back felt so beautiful now. I had so much time to unwind over a match of tennis with friends or take a stroll across the campus. Spotting the peacocks was surely a bonus. But the best takeaway from the experience was the bonds and friendships formed with the peers and the seniors.
We all realized that there is much to strive for than just good grades and placements. Each of us had formed a family away from home here. We celebrated our joys, sorrows, festivals, birthday in style. The longing to visit home every few weeks had declined too. The campus and the hostel became a happy place.
Sangharsh - The Battle of The Titans
As the new year ushered, it paved way for the 3 most gruelling, pulsating and heart-thumping days for the HelLites. This year, it was our turn to host Sangharsh- the Inter-IIM ABCL sports meet. With the roar of ‘Hustle, Hit and Never Quit’, all the teams from all the institutes battled it out in the eccentric atmosphere. Our hard work and perseverance led us to the path to victory. As a part of the contingent, I never felt more proud. This achievement felt greater than any of the personal triumphs before.
The Transcendence
Life at IIM Lucknow now is still characterized with classes, quizzes, heaps of project deadlines, late-night committee meetings, sports break, case study competitions and the list goes on. But no more does it feel overburdening. There’s a pleasant satisfaction when we go to sleep at dawn and are up again to attend a 9:15 AM class.
As the senior batch graduated a couple of days ago and we are now gearing up for our Summer Internships, a rush of nostalgia hit me. I realized how rewarding and life-changing the last 8 months have been. We all came in with a different expectation but the experience taught us much beyond that. From ‘How do I spend 2 years here?’ to ‘Oh! Just a year is left!’, I learnt the lesson of my life.
So before you doubt your decision or think there is not much scope ahead, time will lead you to success!
