In a long-distance tête-à-tête,
this young girl, my student back then, shares her journey with us – from a
not-so-sure-about-which-stream to-take-kinda-girl to showing off her convo cap
for earning a Master’s in Management from New York University, she has come a
long way! Do read. You will know what it takes to dream and make that dream,
real!
Why did you decide to study management
after mass communication?
I always
planned to go for an MBA at some point in my life. I appeared for entrance
exams for B-schools in India. I got through in Welingkar and KJ Somaiyya. When
it was time to decide which one to choose, a little voice in my head said you
should go for your Masters abroad. So I decided to give it a try. I scored
really well on my GMAT. With my essays and good recommendation letters I got
into NYU for the Integrated Marketing program. One semester into it I realized
that the Management course would open more avenues for me so I transferred to
that course in Spring 2015.
Don’t tell me, Sau. You were
confused even there? Wow! J
Was it difficult to decide about
studying abroad?
I
wouldn't say it was difficult. I had my idols: my cousins who are doing extremely
well in their careers here in the US. With the never ending support from my
parents, it was an easy decision.
Was it difficult preparing for
NYU? How did you prepare?
The GMAT
part was moderately easy for me since I always had a quantitative aptitude and
a flair for the English language. Very honestly, I prepared for GMAT in two
weeks since my schedule at my then workplace was quite hectic. I treated the
official GMAT guide as my bible. I solved it once and was good to go. TOEFL
didn't need any prep at all.
What gave you the confidence?
I would
say my parents' belief in me, and honest and focused efforts.
How did you fit in? At NYU? What
overwhelmed you? How did you manage?
One thing
about NYU and New York in general is that anybody would fit right in. They say
that this city celebrates the different side of you. The first couple of weeks
challenged all of the newbies like me as we were unaware of the subway system.
We ended up taking the wrong trains and missing our stops a couple of times.
But once I got a hang of it, I could comfortably leave my apartment with just
my phone, metrocard, and debit card. At NYU, my first semester was very
interesting because my peers came from various countries and cultures. When I
transferred to the school of engineering in the second semester, the diversity
in the classroom was way less as the class was mostly comprised of Indian and
Chinese students since these are the countries that most engineers here come
from. The system of studying, completing assignments, and grading here are way
different than how they are back home. Also, here we needed to take
responsibility of everything right from cooking to household chores - something
that we didn't need to worry about before. I think it helped all of us grow up
a little and appreciate every tiny thing that our parents did for us.
What do you plan to do now?
I am
looking for a job in business intelligence and analytics
What did you graduate in before
mass communication?
I did my
Bachelors in Engineering.
Wow! You really are educated in
all streams, Sau!
What is your personal philosophy?
Always think about 'what could be' rather than 'what could have been',
What is your professional philosophy?
Never stop learning and exploring. Getting too comfortable at doing what
you're doing is a sign to look for the next challenge.
Who is your role model?
My first boss - Ms. Radhika Akolkar. She is the perfect combination of a
leader and a team player. Assertive, yet polite, she has a personality that
commands respect. I have seen her balance work and personal life in an
impeccable way. I aspire to be like her one day.
If there was anything you could change about yourself before you took this
course, what would it be?
Get more comfortable with concepts of statistics and practice coding. If I
had done that I would've needed less time to get used to it and definitely have
been even more productive.
Did I not tell you, that this young
lady here has a pretty and sorted head sitting on her young shoulders? For
those who don’t know, during her Mass Comm, where I taught her, she also was
contemplating doing copywriting; even then I remember I had advised her to take
up ‘brand/account planning’. She has made the right choice today and what a
choice!
Congratulations, my dear young lady.
May you go on to create success and happiness wherever you go. And a few broken
glass ceilings too, if I may add!
