My first day on campus was the day of our orientation, where Jannat Sir introduced us to this institute. He spoke of the values and the long-term goals of the institute, the route we planned to get there, what we as students could contribute to this institute. He also spoke of ‘Building U Together’ and the journey we were about to start together- the students and the institute. We were told that these two years would be a transformative experience for us. I believed his words then and in the past year which I have spent on this campus, I have only come to believe in these words even more strongly.
In the past year, I have seen both this institute, my fellow students and myself grow and develop both personally and professionally. This year our institute has been ranked 13th in the Management category and 1st among the new IIMs. I have seen my classmates, who in our very first class presentation, couldn’t speak due to nervousness, presenting to the whole batch with confidence and poise. People who came from a science background have learned to prepare financial statements and people who came from an arts background have learned statistics.
In my case, I came here as a fresher, who had no previous organizational experience. I was an introvert and was not confident about speaking in class. In the past year, I have become much more confident about my own abilities. I have also become more confident in expressing my opinions in front of other people. We all learned how to work in diverse groups, where every person has different personalities and talents. This has been a very important learning for our future because no matter where we work later, we will need to be able to work with various different people, who have different views, perspectives, and backgrounds.
The clubs and committees I am part, and my summer internship has also helped me to grow both personally and professionally. I am part of both CulComm (the cultural committee) and Octaves (the music club). Both, CulComm and Octaves conduct several events for the whole IIMU community. This has helped me in learning to manage a large number of people, to handle both my academics and extra-curricular activities simultaneously, to work in teams of more than forty people at times. I have transformed in many ways in the past year and I hope I can achieve the transformation Jannat wished all would at the end of this year.
Which vertical I would like to work in?
I would like to work in either Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd, Aditya Birla Retail Ltd or Idea Cellular Ltd. My passion is marketing. I love the paradoxical nature of this domain. Marketing is about spontaneity with structure, creativity and new ideas with age-old and established concepts. Joining one of these verticals will offer me the best possibilities for marketing. And I believe that these verticals would give me the greatest scope and opportunity in learning and growing as a marketer.