Have you ever been in a crowded place and felt really lost?
Well, that was the start of my MBA life. Within the first week, I saw everyone becoming each other's friends, going out for parties and hanging out as they had always known each other. But that didn’t feel like me. I always took my relationships slowly and made sure they were healthy, and that always felt like the right thing to do. But if it felt right, why was it going wrong? Why did I feel so out of place?
During the first term, I did end up making some great friends and became a part of the HR Forum, but I always felt like I wasn’t doing enough. I wasn’t able to ask professors questions in class because I was scared that my question wasn’t smart enough. I wanted to be able to network more. I wanted everyone to see the potential within me.
So I made a plan. I started smiling more to each acquaintance I saw, and I made sure to ask them how they were doing. I started interacting with professors more outside of class which gave me the confidence to ask questions more freely inside the class. I met more classmates outside of class for meals and sometimes just for coffee or tea to get to know them better. I started taking up more initiatives within the HR Forum and launched our first ever quarterly magazine. I decided to grab each opportunity that was beyond my comfort zone. In January 2019, I took part in the TAPMI MUN and won the High Commendation award. In February 2019, I was a national finalist for TISS Manthan 2019, and finally, in March I became the Co-Convener of the HR Forum.
In school, I was extremely confident and outgoing because I was really comfortable there, but somewhere in my bachelors, I lost that charm. When I started with MBA, I knew I couldn’t always rely on comfortable situations to show that charm.
New situations are never easy for anyone, and what makes or breaks you is the attitude you choose. And it’s always a choice, a very conscious one, to choose the kind of person you want to be.