We have recruited several students from the International Business School to contribute to the blog. These students will be sharing their personal reflections about “global experiences,” both inside and outside the classroom.
Suchitra Deshpande is a first-year MBA student. She hails from Mumbai, India. There, she earned a Bachelors degree in Computer Engineering from Don Bosco Institute of Technology. Suchitra has over two years of experience with Citigroup Global Services Ltd. in software testing.
Never seen the leaves of fall,
Didn’t know the season at all,
And now I learn to admire the colours,
As I rush by, the scenery calls…
This has been my experience so far at IBS… Namaste! While I use these volley of words to describe the fall season here, it just as well applies to my friends and classmates here. As I meet people from different countries everyday and we get to know each other more, I learn to admire them with all their cultural differences and their unique way of thinking. It has been an eventful, even riotous month and a half here. Since August 17th, MBA and its true meanings keep emerging! This month it has been Madly Busy Adjustments.
From having trouble walking long distances here – yes initially, my feet would swell up from walking so much. It was scary because back in India, public transportation is so readily available, you walk only when you feel like it! The Global Directions Program was a good start and helped us get an idea of the way class discussions would go and the kind of class participation expected. As soon as that was over, there was the task of deciding which courses to take up for the MBA, enrolling for them, the orientation and finally the MBA program itself! The courses I have taken seem to be not only interesting and intellectually challenging, but also the classroom atmosphere never ceases to fascinate me.
In spite of all the hullabaloo, I was able to catch a breather with a salsa cruise that was organized through campus. It was a fun evening out trying the dance form salsa and getting to know people outside the classroom. With the flexibility of having different courses, one gets the advantage of choosing the subjects. But this kind of a schedule also does not allow much room to find a group of friends always hanging out together. There are lots of IBS clubs to be a part of and so making a choice of the seemingly better among the best is in itself is a pretty difficult task. For me, I was tempted to be a part of most. So if Engineering to me was a kind of ultimate learning of stress testing, MBA right now seems to teach me about prioritizing. Settling in an apartment, missing home terribly – all experiences which I’m letting sink in – today! Days rush by with classes and assignments, so much so that you need a holiday to let it all sink in! So far, so good – seems to be the anthem – ask anyone about how studies are going and even I would say the same. One day, things seem manageable and the other, out of control. More so, I could feel this for the international students. Because, along with getting used to the classroom culture here, there is the adjusting to the daily life, the way of speaking, the culture here -which needs to be taken care of. Yesterday, I was enjoying a walk in the campus, the lush greenery cooling the eyes and I was thinking…”So this is what it is to do an MBA in IBS…”
Some days, I feel light and some days I feel low,
But days go by and there are classes to go,
And so many assignments that you can’t afford to be slow!
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Are you a poet and you know it?
Loved your blog, especially the poems!