About the Author:
Subrat Sarkar (Senior Analyst at Dell International Services, IIM Visakhapatnam 2017-19)
Doing an MBA was a sudden decision when my
VISA did not get selected in the lottery for the second time. Taking one step
at a time has always been my focus but keeping your mind open to every angle
gives you an added advantage. That’s when I decided to shift my focus from
onsite opportunity as getting selected or not selected in the lottery was not
under my control. That’s how IIM Visakhapatnam happened.
During MBA do everything, participate everywhere,
when I say everything, I literally mean everything – be it academics, sports,
cultural, or a CSR activity. You will learn a lot which a lot of books will not
decode it for you.
To be honest I have learned less from the
books and classes in my MBA but everything from my friends. Having some awesome
friends in this kind of journey is necessary and I feel lucky that I had more
than a few to depend upon and rely on.
When we join a college at the very beginning of its starting phase, it becomes equally important for the students to contribute to the college in taking it to a higher level. When you have a lesser strength, the struggle becomes even more with every student taking part in multiple activities. We used to face this issue mostly during Sangram, where many of us had to participate in multiple sports and then come back to Vizag in almost four shoulders. But yes, undoubtedly one of the best memories created and having a muscle tear is worth it.
Coming to my position of Cultural Secretary
– a position which was decided by a coin toss (probably we just created history
there) had a lot of hurdles. When I spoke to people in that same position from
different B schools, I realized they also had the same issues but ours was more
as we were just in the initial years. Getting a budget sanctioned from the
admin for the cultural activities would be my biggest hurdle. Coming out of the
Admins room victorious would be the satisfaction that I am sure all my peers in
the SAC would relate to. The entire SAC obviously needs a mention here as we
worked less like an individual and more like a pack. Each one of us being on
the same page at every level and standing for each other has made us 9 out of
10 times successful in convincing the admin.
In India, we are more emotional with our
job than being professional. For me, Sammarambh was emotion and I wanted to
cultivate the same in my junior coordinators who have immensely helped me in
every path. I believe I was able to make it an emotion for them too. Having
thunder, rain, and few other calamities on the D Day probably would be another
hurdle worth mentioning.
Every event coordinator had taken up the
responsibility well. My job was just to help by granting them permission to
organize it wherever possible during such a natural calamity. Having a great
team always helps you to make good decisions, and the collective decision of
organizing the celebrity night just under the entrance roof of the college made
it look like a private concert, and hopefully, the students had a great time.
There were many more hurdles be it arranging the return journey for the celebrity singer and his team in the middle of such a calamity, be it returning the sponsored dresses for the Fashion show or be it the arguments with the stall owners over the facilities provided. But I have personally learned a lot from these issues and handling those situations has taught me a lot.
Coming to the most important part of why each one of us joins any college- the Placements. Knowing your resume in and out is very crucial and important. Keeping a target of which roles, you want to apply for is good but keeping an open mind to different roles may not be a bad idea. It's also important that you don’t stress on this placement from the very first day of college and learn to enjoy the journey more. Things will automatically fall in place. While the Placement committee takes care of most of it but it’s also the responsibility of an individual to look for options available and support them.
Finally, only one piece of advice that I
would like to give - Enjoy this journey as much as possible and keep the
learnings intact throughout your life.
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