(Written on 27th Nov'11)
Belated Thanksgiving to the Americans! And a slightly more belated Thanksgiving to the Canadians!
I write this on my way back from Reading where I was a part of a group of 12 who watched Desi Boyz. The movie was alright. Maybe 2.5 on 5. And to make our way back to Oxford we got a slow train. It was slightly noisier than the usual train too.
As I sat in the train, my head against the window, I was put in mind of the late night rides I had when I worked graveyard shifts in GE Capital. I could suddenly imagine myself back in the cabs, then in the big buses that we took early morning to return from work. We were often half dead. My memory then jogged back a bit further to my college days when I travelled via DTC buses in the sweltering hot Delhi summers. The bus rides where I often had to stand for one and a half hour and not get a seat. And then my mind went further back to my days in Kanpur. As a kid in 10th grade playing Cricket in my verandah with my brother.
I recalled my journey in life so far. And the different seats I've sat in. My bicycle seat and the wooden tables in my school in Kanpur. The hard seats in DTC buses that I'd gladly take after having stood for an hour. The more comfortable buses and cabs in GE. The tight yet purposeful economy class seat to reach London. And my ride now from Reading to go back to Oxford.
I don't know what it may really mean. But I am greatly proud of what I have done in my life so far. I want to think a little more about what all this means. Why me and what next. I think rather aimlessly for a bit and let my mind wander.
I didn't get any answers but I just felt a feeling of gratitude. A feeling of saying thanks to the almighty and my family for believing in me. To life for throwing so many positives my way. For allowing me to be able to keep the memory of the times passed.
Thank you. Thank you.
Happy thanksgiving!
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Support classes, Exams and Holiday season!
(Written on 23rd Dec'11)
I write today, the last working day of this year for many in the UK, about what has happened in the last month or so.
The end of the Michaelmas term was a bit of a whirlwind. It started with the week 6-8 classes when people started thinking seriously about the exams. This was followed by revision classes in week 9 and exams in the following week. We had 5 exams in as many days. Most of us had written exams 6-8 years back and so were slightly rusted with the whole method. Writing with a pen and not a keyboard was a hurdle by itself ! To this add the fact that we had to dress up in a white shirt, white bow, black suit and a subfusc! Clearly it wasn't the most comfortable setup for many. But we managed to scape through.
I do want to mention, however, what preceded the exams too. SBS is a great place not only because of its presence in Oxford or its professors, but equally because of the students. We have students who are professional accountants and they ran support classes for each section every week. There wasn't an economist in the class but a few people had studied it in their undergrads and they ran support classes for that. Similarly there was help at hand for finance novices. So people with no backgrounds had a lot of support to gain better understanding of the subjects from not just the professors and the TAs but also from their fellow students. It truly was a collaborative exam prep! Thanks to Jean-Philippe Poissant, Prateek Jain and Rob Mills for running the Accounting sessions, , Amandeep Singh, Erkin Kudratov, Nithum Thain and Sean Mullin for the Economics classes, Aunnie Patton and Prashant De for the Finance classes and Daniela Papi and David Damberger for flashcards and notes on Strategy!
I have to also share a small anecdote about the diversity in the class. When going for our exams I shared my cab with people who stayed in the same building as I did. The four people in the cab were: a Chinese, an Indian,a Portuguese and a Slovak! Four different accents in the cab are always fun!
We ended the term with a Christmas Gala where it was great to exchange presents and have a good time before people leave Oxford to visit their families, go on vacation or stay back and play Cricket (like I am doing!) Couple of shout outs: First to the band from our class, called Double Entry and their take on Hotel California (or Oxford MBA), at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q543iMjIYx0&feature=related and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgnIAzaxNZI&feature=related; The second shout out is for Mike Navarrete for this awesome video on the silent library disco: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RL49r-aD72c&feature=share
While I do feel a sense of emptiness now after a really busy term, I intend to relax during the break and prepare for the next term. After all it isn't called Hellary for no reason. I am sure we'll moan and complain, but we will make it through! This break is akin to sharpening the axe to ensure it cuts well when it gets back to chopping the wood. A well deserved and necessary break for all of us!
Hope you are thinking about sharpening your axe regularly too. Work hard, rest well and have a great time off. Happy holidays to you and your loved ones!
I write today, the last working day of this year for many in the UK, about what has happened in the last month or so.
The end of the Michaelmas term was a bit of a whirlwind. It started with the week 6-8 classes when people started thinking seriously about the exams. This was followed by revision classes in week 9 and exams in the following week. We had 5 exams in as many days. Most of us had written exams 6-8 years back and so were slightly rusted with the whole method. Writing with a pen and not a keyboard was a hurdle by itself ! To this add the fact that we had to dress up in a white shirt, white bow, black suit and a subfusc! Clearly it wasn't the most comfortable setup for many. But we managed to scape through.
I do want to mention, however, what preceded the exams too. SBS is a great place not only because of its presence in Oxford or its professors, but equally because of the students. We have students who are professional accountants and they ran support classes for each section every week. There wasn't an economist in the class but a few people had studied it in their undergrads and they ran support classes for that. Similarly there was help at hand for finance novices. So people with no backgrounds had a lot of support to gain better understanding of the subjects from not just the professors and the TAs but also from their fellow students. It truly was a collaborative exam prep! Thanks to Jean-Philippe Poissant, Prateek Jain and Rob Mills for running the Accounting sessions, , Amandeep Singh, Erkin Kudratov, Nithum Thain and Sean Mullin for the Economics classes, Aunnie Patton and Prashant De for the Finance classes and Daniela Papi and David Damberger for flashcards and notes on Strategy!
I have to also share a small anecdote about the diversity in the class. When going for our exams I shared my cab with people who stayed in the same building as I did. The four people in the cab were: a Chinese, an Indian,a Portuguese and a Slovak! Four different accents in the cab are always fun!
We ended the term with a Christmas Gala where it was great to exchange presents and have a good time before people leave Oxford to visit their families, go on vacation or stay back and play Cricket (like I am doing!) Couple of shout outs: First to the band from our class, called Double Entry and their take on Hotel California (or Oxford MBA), at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q543iMjIYx0&feature=related and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgnIAzaxNZI&feature=related; The second shout out is for Mike Navarrete for this awesome video on the silent library disco: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RL49r-aD72c&feature=share
While I do feel a sense of emptiness now after a really busy term, I intend to relax during the break and prepare for the next term. After all it isn't called Hellary for no reason. I am sure we'll moan and complain, but we will make it through! This break is akin to sharpening the axe to ensure it cuts well when it gets back to chopping the wood. A well deserved and necessary break for all of us!
Hope you are thinking about sharpening your axe regularly too. Work hard, rest well and have a great time off. Happy holidays to you and your loved ones!
Tuesday, November 08, 2011
Don't judge a book by its cover
Here is the second blog post for SBS:
Right then, what do I mean by the title of this post? Am I getting too philosophical now that I am in Oxford? Or I am just being a poser, throwing a cliche at you?
Well, at one level, I am being rather simple. Look at my profile photo for this blog. I don't look quite as smart as this (I believe its too flattering while my wife thinks it doesn't do justice to me. Since women are usually right, guess you know who is right on this subject)
If you think about this blog its in a way similar to my profile photo. This is a representation of a person's life pursuing one's MBA at SBS. Or is it? One could argue that the school has self interest to cherry pick students who are prone to writing good stuff (or possibly write anything well at all! :p) Possibly even give a slight nudge (or maybe even a dictat) to be 'fair' in one's assessment of one's eniviron. Allow me to share that we have not been given any such nudge or a dictat. If anything, Oxford and SBS encourages dialogue in a Socratic method (its ok if you don't know what it means, more info at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socratic_method Even I didn't know about it till a few weeks back:)) What I mean is that our professors have repeatedly asked us to think critically about an idea that we are discussing in a class. Their belief probably is that one learns best and is most convinced of an idea when there are no more holes that one can punch in the argument. Of course, were I to attempt to extrapolate the argument to criticising my wife's cooking, I would go hungry. So I keep quite and don't discuss how awesome the food is. But may be that's the exception that proves the rule ;) So yea, critically analyse an idea before accepting it.
Simply put, my request to you as the reader of this blog is to read this blog, ask people, research rankings, etc but don't take any one component to be the only truth that exists about life at SBS and Oxford. Discover your own truth. Discover what you truly want and what really entices you. Be honest and you'll succeed.
Sorry, if you came to this blog to get an inside scoop on life at SBS and Oxford and I bored you with hocus pocus philosphy. I will try to be more useful in one of my next posts.
Cherio!
PS: To continue the photo analogy, below is a how I look right now. I am sporting a moustache as part of Movember to raise funds and awareness for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer and other cancers that affect men and look rather odd with a tash. Please donate (even if its a pound, dollar or a rupee!) at http://mobro.co/KinnyKiMooch So yeah, don't judge a book by its cover :)
Right then, what do I mean by the title of this post? Am I getting too philosophical now that I am in Oxford? Or I am just being a poser, throwing a cliche at you?
Well, at one level, I am being rather simple. Look at my profile photo for this blog. I don't look quite as smart as this (I believe its too flattering while my wife thinks it doesn't do justice to me. Since women are usually right, guess you know who is right on this subject)
If you think about this blog its in a way similar to my profile photo. This is a representation of a person's life pursuing one's MBA at SBS. Or is it? One could argue that the school has self interest to cherry pick students who are prone to writing good stuff (or possibly write anything well at all! :p) Possibly even give a slight nudge (or maybe even a dictat) to be 'fair' in one's assessment of one's eniviron. Allow me to share that we have not been given any such nudge or a dictat. If anything, Oxford and SBS encourages dialogue in a Socratic method (its ok if you don't know what it means, more info at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socratic_method Even I didn't know about it till a few weeks back:)) What I mean is that our professors have repeatedly asked us to think critically about an idea that we are discussing in a class. Their belief probably is that one learns best and is most convinced of an idea when there are no more holes that one can punch in the argument. Of course, were I to attempt to extrapolate the argument to criticising my wife's cooking, I would go hungry. So I keep quite and don't discuss how awesome the food is. But may be that's the exception that proves the rule ;) So yea, critically analyse an idea before accepting it.
Simply put, my request to you as the reader of this blog is to read this blog, ask people, research rankings, etc but don't take any one component to be the only truth that exists about life at SBS and Oxford. Discover your own truth. Discover what you truly want and what really entices you. Be honest and you'll succeed.
Sorry, if you came to this blog to get an inside scoop on life at SBS and Oxford and I bored you with hocus pocus philosphy. I will try to be more useful in one of my next posts.
Cherio!
PS: To continue the photo analogy, below is a how I look right now. I am sporting a moustache as part of Movember to raise funds and awareness for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer and other cancers that affect men and look rather odd with a tash. Please donate (even if its a pound, dollar or a rupee!) at http://mobro.co/KinnyKiMooch So yeah, don't judge a book by its cover :)
Who am I?
I've just began blogging for SBS and below is my first post there to introduce myself. If you are new to my blog, this should also be a good (and a slightly more formal) introduction:)
"Hi all!
My name is Kinny Kohli. I am a 20-something (with an MBA you’ll probably learn to be accurate and inaccurate enough at the same time:)) Indian guy. I have an unusual name for an Indian, and will be happy to share in person the story of how I got my name:)
Prior to coming to Saïd Business School for my MBA I worked in the operations and strategy of Financial institutions. I started my career as a call center agent (yes, the (ill)famed industry in India!:)) at GE Capital. Worked there and IBM for a total of ~5 years. During this time I worked in the back office operations of a business to collect payments from customers who had missed paying their credit cards. I worked for US and UK based clients (private label credit cards, high street banks, etc) and thoroughly enjoyed growing from the ranks to lead diverse teams. I also relished finding ways to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the work we did (how do we get more work from the same shift hours, how do we improve our cross sell rates, how do we improve our customer satisfaction, etc) Then I got an opportunity to work with Capital One as a Supplier Relationship Manager. The role was to manage the kind of services I was delivering earlier. I worked there for 5 years and was promoted to lead a team of Supplier Relationship Managers. In my last role I was managing our outsourced business from US and UK to firms in India and Philippines, worth approximately $18 million per month. I also led operational and strategic interests (look at ways to improve effectiveness and efficiency and also who are we partnering with, who should get a bigger pie of our business, etc)
Outside work I enjoy meditating (sometimes that is required at work too!), running and writing poetry. I’ve been plagued with injuries and they’ve kept me away from my dream of running a marathon. But I recently ran a 10k with a slightly dodgy ankle so the dream lives on. I also published a book of my poems. The sales number was a ‘respectable’ two digit figure. That’s all I’ll say about that.
At SBS, I’ve had the opportunity to be trained as a Peer Supporter and am also the Secretary of our Student Advisory Board. I recently beat someone in Table Tennis who has represented Oxford, so I am gravitating towards focusing on that too.
There are tonnes of things going on in Oxford and I am sure I will have a great year in Oxford. If only there were more hours in a day to do justice to everything! Well, through the year I will try to share my thoughts and views of what’s going on here. This should hopefully give you a flavour of life here. Ask me if you have any questions. I’ll welcome replies to blog posts or email (kinny.kohli@sbs.ox.ac.uk). Wish you success in your journey! ”
"Hi all!
My name is Kinny Kohli. I am a 20-something (with an MBA you’ll probably learn to be accurate and inaccurate enough at the same time:)) Indian guy. I have an unusual name for an Indian, and will be happy to share in person the story of how I got my name:)
Prior to coming to Saïd Business School for my MBA I worked in the operations and strategy of Financial institutions. I started my career as a call center agent (yes, the (ill)famed industry in India!:)) at GE Capital. Worked there and IBM for a total of ~5 years. During this time I worked in the back office operations of a business to collect payments from customers who had missed paying their credit cards. I worked for US and UK based clients (private label credit cards, high street banks, etc) and thoroughly enjoyed growing from the ranks to lead diverse teams. I also relished finding ways to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the work we did (how do we get more work from the same shift hours, how do we improve our cross sell rates, how do we improve our customer satisfaction, etc) Then I got an opportunity to work with Capital One as a Supplier Relationship Manager. The role was to manage the kind of services I was delivering earlier. I worked there for 5 years and was promoted to lead a team of Supplier Relationship Managers. In my last role I was managing our outsourced business from US and UK to firms in India and Philippines, worth approximately $18 million per month. I also led operational and strategic interests (look at ways to improve effectiveness and efficiency and also who are we partnering with, who should get a bigger pie of our business, etc)
Outside work I enjoy meditating (sometimes that is required at work too!), running and writing poetry. I’ve been plagued with injuries and they’ve kept me away from my dream of running a marathon. But I recently ran a 10k with a slightly dodgy ankle so the dream lives on. I also published a book of my poems. The sales number was a ‘respectable’ two digit figure. That’s all I’ll say about that.
At SBS, I’ve had the opportunity to be trained as a Peer Supporter and am also the Secretary of our Student Advisory Board. I recently beat someone in Table Tennis who has represented Oxford, so I am gravitating towards focusing on that too.
There are tonnes of things going on in Oxford and I am sure I will have a great year in Oxford. If only there were more hours in a day to do justice to everything! Well, through the year I will try to share my thoughts and views of what’s going on here. This should hopefully give you a flavour of life here. Ask me if you have any questions. I’ll welcome replies to blog posts or email (kinny.kohli@sbs.ox.ac.uk). Wish you success in your journey! ”
Sunday, October 30, 2011
More and more to catch up
Just back from watching The Ides of March with my flatmate and it was fun! Three bits for the blog today:
- I have now lost one game of TT in the last 3-odd weekd. That too to an ex SBS MBA, Rahul Anand, and am otherwise undefeated (managed to beat a 15th ranked player at OUTTC 8-0 or something on Thursday). Tired from all the winning and work to catch up on, I missed going to Iffley today
- Speaking of catching up. Well, I almost made it this weekend! Have read my Strategy and Marketing cases for the week and managed to complete my Finance and Accounting homework. If only I could revise my CV and Cover Letter to apply to a consulting firm, get the faintest idea of what we've done in Managerial Economics so far and do some work on the group assignment I would've completely caught up on work. But heyho, so goes life!
- Lastly, and most importantly, we had an awesome Diwali party in SBS this Friday. Truly awesome entertainment show put up by the students followed by a few hours of dancing to Hindi and Punjabi tracks. Worth every moment spent there! SBS truly rocks!!! (Here are some videos of the performances:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8ecgizmqrQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6lBSzv8Ef4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sV3wbXRc3VQ )
Btw, there was also a competition for the best dressed couple for non-Indians dressed in Indian clothing and a guy wearing the Sahara jersey (Indian Cricket team's official jersey) beat guys wearing kurtas, et al! Fir bhi dil hai Hindustani!! ;)
Over and out!
- I have now lost one game of TT in the last 3-odd weekd. That too to an ex SBS MBA, Rahul Anand, and am otherwise undefeated (managed to beat a 15th ranked player at OUTTC 8-0 or something on Thursday). Tired from all the winning and work to catch up on, I missed going to Iffley today
- Speaking of catching up. Well, I almost made it this weekend! Have read my Strategy and Marketing cases for the week and managed to complete my Finance and Accounting homework. If only I could revise my CV and Cover Letter to apply to a consulting firm, get the faintest idea of what we've done in Managerial Economics so far and do some work on the group assignment I would've completely caught up on work. But heyho, so goes life!
- Lastly, and most importantly, we had an awesome Diwali party in SBS this Friday. Truly awesome entertainment show put up by the students followed by a few hours of dancing to Hindi and Punjabi tracks. Worth every moment spent there! SBS truly rocks!!! (Here are some videos of the performances:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8ecgizmqrQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6lBSzv8Ef4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sV3wbXRc3VQ )
Btw, there was also a competition for the best dressed couple for non-Indians dressed in Indian clothing and a guy wearing the Sahara jersey (Indian Cricket team's official jersey) beat guys wearing kurtas, et al! Fir bhi dil hai Hindustani!! ;)
Over and out!
Friday, October 21, 2011
Table Tennis
Oh how could I forget?!
I have re-started playing Table Tennis! I attended the OUTTC yesterday and beat a couple of college guys. I actually won all games and that embarassed me a bit.. I have gone a couple of weeks without losing now. Not feeling challenged enough.. Need someone to kick my butt! Am sure that time is about to arrive quite soon ;)
I have re-started playing Table Tennis! I attended the OUTTC yesterday and beat a couple of college guys. I actually won all games and that embarassed me a bit.. I have gone a couple of weeks without losing now. Not feeling challenged enough.. Need someone to kick my butt! Am sure that time is about to arrive quite soon ;)
Post about a new post and the last 2 weeks
Right then. Its maniacally busy!
I got elected as the Secretary of the Student Advisory Board. Yay! Since the other 2 who were in the running dropped out before the elections began, it wasnt really that hard :) However, the interesting bit was that this is essentially a Vice President's equivalent role and for the President's role we had close to 10 candidates. Now, given that there turned out to be just 1 candidate for the VP's role intrigued me a lot. What would you have done? Run the race for a higher spot that gave you little chance of winning or a not so high spot that increased your chances? In both cases you could contribute to the success of the organisation...Well, anyhow, I ended up in a rather bloodless battle that I won ;)
Other than that its been a crazy couple of weeks. We've had some really interesting sessions on subjects like Strategy and Marketing. Subjects that are often perceived to be a bit wooly. And I must commend the professors for making the study really practical and not too academic. Other than that, I have begun to sweat when I hear Accounting and Managerial Economics. I have close to no idea what we are doing in the latter. Partly also because I had to miss one half of this week's class to attend another event and that made things much worse. We've also got a couple of assignments and have begun work there already. So the weekend is going to be about catching up on stuff and making a short trip to London to meet a friend. And there is Diwali next week, I hear our Events guys are planning something really interesting. Looking forward to that! Busy days ahead! :)
I got elected as the Secretary of the Student Advisory Board. Yay! Since the other 2 who were in the running dropped out before the elections began, it wasnt really that hard :) However, the interesting bit was that this is essentially a Vice President's equivalent role and for the President's role we had close to 10 candidates. Now, given that there turned out to be just 1 candidate for the VP's role intrigued me a lot. What would you have done? Run the race for a higher spot that gave you little chance of winning or a not so high spot that increased your chances? In both cases you could contribute to the success of the organisation...Well, anyhow, I ended up in a rather bloodless battle that I won ;)
Other than that its been a crazy couple of weeks. We've had some really interesting sessions on subjects like Strategy and Marketing. Subjects that are often perceived to be a bit wooly. And I must commend the professors for making the study really practical and not too academic. Other than that, I have begun to sweat when I hear Accounting and Managerial Economics. I have close to no idea what we are doing in the latter. Partly also because I had to miss one half of this week's class to attend another event and that made things much worse. We've also got a couple of assignments and have begun work there already. So the weekend is going to be about catching up on stuff and making a short trip to London to meet a friend. And there is Diwali next week, I hear our Events guys are planning something really interesting. Looking forward to that! Busy days ahead! :)
Tuesday, October 04, 2011
Class of 2011 and the legacy of a school
(Written on 1st Oct'11)
Right then, busy days continue. Today I want to write about 2 pieces: our recent interaction with the class of '11 and a novel concept in SBS re career services. I'll try explaining SBS jargon as we go along.
Yesterday (30th September) at the school the highlight of the day was supposed to be Career Connect (CC). CC is SBS's system that let's students find job opportunities, book appointments with sector consultants (more on them later), etc. In a way, CC adds the CCs to your job search. As it turned out CC is an exhaustive, well structured and well researched system. That said, we had an hour blocked for the President of the outgoing class's Student Advisory Board (the body that is the official voice of the class and represents them in various forums) to address us. Lets call him AM. We didnt know a lot about what that hour would entail. AM was joined by a motley collection of people. 2 women and 8 men from the class of '11 came and wanted to have an open house about their experiences in the last year. They introduced themselves and then answered questions with palpable excitement and reverential candor. I really liked how one student, let's call him SL, talked about how they went about 'preparing' for MBATs (the sports tournament held and organized at HEC Paris where schools from all over Europe compete and SBS finished 3rd last year) and Capstone week. They shared stories about teams were formed less than a week before the competition and how a contingent of 170-180 people cheering for you in every game can really be an experience in itself. Capstone is another milestone that's about an year away for us right now. But I suspect it'll be here sooner than I can imagine right now. More on Capstone in an year I guess.
I'd like to focus on some key points the panel made, I'll call them takeaways or points to remember and stuff that our school's legacy should be made of. In typical consultant manner (I wasnt one before coming to the school and not entirely convinced if I want to be one post MBA) I'll limit them to 4 points. I would've liked to go with 3 but couldn't do away with any, so here it goes:
- Collaboratively Competitive: AM spoke about the class of '11 being 'collaboratively competitive'. Help others reach their goals, even in situations where you might for instance be competing for the same jobs. Really powerful concept that would, in my eyes, distinguish a good school that prepares and encourages Type As, and a great school. One McKinsey alum who was in the panel (who is returning there) spoke about how helping others prepare for cases helps oneself get other perspectives on a case and/or strengthen one's view. Can't argues with McK now, can we? :p
- Aim for, but dont become, an MBA: The outgoing class's Cricket team Captain suggested that we aim to aim to get an MBA and not be an MBA. 'be an MBA' obviously referring to the notion of a typical MBA- brash, immature and attitude-ridden. Subtle difference in wording but a fundamentally different way of aiming at your goal. Again a really simple, practical and rather profound advice. I hope I remember it and so does the little Type A monster inside me :)
- It's a family: this would probably not need much explaining but basically a bunch of people with whom one spends countless hours during an impressionable year will become one's family. Someone also pointed that there is always an odd cousin who just looks downright weird and dodgy. Ignore him/her and cherish the time with rest of the gang.
- A teetotaler camera guy: definitely get someone in your gang, someone who doesn't drink and can carry a digital camera to all the parties. A series of unpublishable photos of future filthy rich people could mean a lot of money. And oh yeah, you could also chronicle your parties for posterity too if you want. But I like the former more ;)
Sorry, unlike a good consultant I didn't plan my time well and will pen down the bits about Careers later. Need to go for our first game of Cricket! We have a Dutch (yes, Dutch) leading the charge and he has booked a make shift ground (a basketball/tennis court) Off I go!
Right then, busy days continue. Today I want to write about 2 pieces: our recent interaction with the class of '11 and a novel concept in SBS re career services. I'll try explaining SBS jargon as we go along.
Yesterday (30th September) at the school the highlight of the day was supposed to be Career Connect (CC). CC is SBS's system that let's students find job opportunities, book appointments with sector consultants (more on them later), etc. In a way, CC adds the CCs to your job search. As it turned out CC is an exhaustive, well structured and well researched system. That said, we had an hour blocked for the President of the outgoing class's Student Advisory Board (the body that is the official voice of the class and represents them in various forums) to address us. Lets call him AM. We didnt know a lot about what that hour would entail. AM was joined by a motley collection of people. 2 women and 8 men from the class of '11 came and wanted to have an open house about their experiences in the last year. They introduced themselves and then answered questions with palpable excitement and reverential candor. I really liked how one student, let's call him SL, talked about how they went about 'preparing' for MBATs (the sports tournament held and organized at HEC Paris where schools from all over Europe compete and SBS finished 3rd last year) and Capstone week. They shared stories about teams were formed less than a week before the competition and how a contingent of 170-180 people cheering for you in every game can really be an experience in itself. Capstone is another milestone that's about an year away for us right now. But I suspect it'll be here sooner than I can imagine right now. More on Capstone in an year I guess.
I'd like to focus on some key points the panel made, I'll call them takeaways or points to remember and stuff that our school's legacy should be made of. In typical consultant manner (I wasnt one before coming to the school and not entirely convinced if I want to be one post MBA) I'll limit them to 4 points. I would've liked to go with 3 but couldn't do away with any, so here it goes:
- Collaboratively Competitive: AM spoke about the class of '11 being 'collaboratively competitive'. Help others reach their goals, even in situations where you might for instance be competing for the same jobs. Really powerful concept that would, in my eyes, distinguish a good school that prepares and encourages Type As, and a great school. One McKinsey alum who was in the panel (who is returning there) spoke about how helping others prepare for cases helps oneself get other perspectives on a case and/or strengthen one's view. Can't argues with McK now, can we? :p
- Aim for, but dont become, an MBA: The outgoing class's Cricket team Captain suggested that we aim to aim to get an MBA and not be an MBA. 'be an MBA' obviously referring to the notion of a typical MBA- brash, immature and attitude-ridden. Subtle difference in wording but a fundamentally different way of aiming at your goal. Again a really simple, practical and rather profound advice. I hope I remember it and so does the little Type A monster inside me :)
- It's a family: this would probably not need much explaining but basically a bunch of people with whom one spends countless hours during an impressionable year will become one's family. Someone also pointed that there is always an odd cousin who just looks downright weird and dodgy. Ignore him/her and cherish the time with rest of the gang.
- A teetotaler camera guy: definitely get someone in your gang, someone who doesn't drink and can carry a digital camera to all the parties. A series of unpublishable photos of future filthy rich people could mean a lot of money. And oh yeah, you could also chronicle your parties for posterity too if you want. But I like the former more ;)
Sorry, unlike a good consultant I didn't plan my time well and will pen down the bits about Careers later. Need to go for our first game of Cricket! We have a Dutch (yes, Dutch) leading the charge and he has booked a make shift ground (a basketball/tennis court) Off I go!
Monday, September 26, 2011
2 weeks of unemployment and 1 week of madness
I left my job end of August and spent a couple of weeks in London. As I (re)discovered during that period, I can't sit idle. Throughout the 2 weeks I constantly kept myself busy with something or the other (myriad options included thoroughly cleaning the hobs to running along the Thames to trying to do my financial reporting pre-course work) Soon the Oxford journey was about to begin.
I travelled to Oxford a couple of times to meet friends, watch SBS play in the finals of the Jack Cox tournament against the Medicine guys (and losing a close match) and just check out the place that would be my town for the next year. Unfortunately, I wouldn't as yet see the apartment that I had agreed to rent. Yes, the first time I saw my apartment was when I moved in!
The apartment turned out to be really nice and since it was newly refurbished (we were the first tenants to move in) it felt really clean and nice- just like a hotel suite! As I sit down and write, I've been going to the school its been a week and a day but it feels longer (both good and bad;)). Also, contrary to my initial fear I haven't hated wearing suits. I quite like it. Must add though that I think I have lost some weight and some of the suits don't fit me as well. Aw well, tough life! :p
But yea, back to the school life, I attended the Consulting and Finance bootcamps last week. They were 2 days each and I found them pretty helpful in getting to know about the industry and the kind of roles that exist there. I am still not 100% sure about where I see myself post MBA, but I think I know more than one bucket of roles that I can leverage my experience in. Having alumni and sector panelists talk about their experience was certainly insightful too. But I dont want to think too much about careers on this post :)
On Friday (23rd Sep) evening some of us were able to attend the pre-Induction at Green Templeton College and sat through a presentation that lasted about an hour and a half. Speakers varied from a Doctor who came to speak about NHS, etc to the Senior Tutor's stand-in to the IT Head- bunch of people spoke about what college life in GTC would be like- if ever we there :) We were fortunate to have also taken a tour of GTC earlier in the week and ate the awesome (both on price and taste axes;)) food at GTC. If there is one place I'd like to eat lunch in the coming year, I'd like to frequent GTC. But we'll see how that pans out...
We had Oxford Pursuit, a treasure hunt competition Saturday morning and a family event on Saturday evening. I have signed up for Peer Support - essentially being at hand support for SBS students who need someone to talk to. Had a full day training on Sunday for Peer Support. Back to SBS, today was our Registration where we got SBS bags, our lockers in the school, etc. The new dean Peter Tufano said something that has stuck in my head and I hope that with time I can keep reminding myself of this thought/these questions. Key points: who do I want to be? Why am I here? And an intellectual version of Peter Parker's Uncle Ben's 'With great power comes great responsibility'.
There is lots happening already and a few stats I saw today reinforced my decision to come here: the class is 251 people and 53 nationalities! Should be a fun year ahead and I sincerely hope I can continue to pen (?) down stuff that'd be helpful to people in the future and be milestones in my memory of the time in Oxford!
I travelled to Oxford a couple of times to meet friends, watch SBS play in the finals of the Jack Cox tournament against the Medicine guys (and losing a close match) and just check out the place that would be my town for the next year. Unfortunately, I wouldn't as yet see the apartment that I had agreed to rent. Yes, the first time I saw my apartment was when I moved in!
The apartment turned out to be really nice and since it was newly refurbished (we were the first tenants to move in) it felt really clean and nice- just like a hotel suite! As I sit down and write, I've been going to the school its been a week and a day but it feels longer (both good and bad;)). Also, contrary to my initial fear I haven't hated wearing suits. I quite like it. Must add though that I think I have lost some weight and some of the suits don't fit me as well. Aw well, tough life! :p
But yea, back to the school life, I attended the Consulting and Finance bootcamps last week. They were 2 days each and I found them pretty helpful in getting to know about the industry and the kind of roles that exist there. I am still not 100% sure about where I see myself post MBA, but I think I know more than one bucket of roles that I can leverage my experience in. Having alumni and sector panelists talk about their experience was certainly insightful too. But I dont want to think too much about careers on this post :)
On Friday (23rd Sep) evening some of us were able to attend the pre-Induction at Green Templeton College and sat through a presentation that lasted about an hour and a half. Speakers varied from a Doctor who came to speak about NHS, etc to the Senior Tutor's stand-in to the IT Head- bunch of people spoke about what college life in GTC would be like- if ever we there :) We were fortunate to have also taken a tour of GTC earlier in the week and ate the awesome (both on price and taste axes;)) food at GTC. If there is one place I'd like to eat lunch in the coming year, I'd like to frequent GTC. But we'll see how that pans out...
We had Oxford Pursuit, a treasure hunt competition Saturday morning and a family event on Saturday evening. I have signed up for Peer Support - essentially being at hand support for SBS students who need someone to talk to. Had a full day training on Sunday for Peer Support. Back to SBS, today was our Registration where we got SBS bags, our lockers in the school, etc. The new dean Peter Tufano said something that has stuck in my head and I hope that with time I can keep reminding myself of this thought/these questions. Key points: who do I want to be? Why am I here? And an intellectual version of Peter Parker's Uncle Ben's 'With great power comes great responsibility'.
There is lots happening already and a few stats I saw today reinforced my decision to come here: the class is 251 people and 53 nationalities! Should be a fun year ahead and I sincerely hope I can continue to pen (?) down stuff that'd be helpful to people in the future and be milestones in my memory of the time in Oxford!
Friday, August 26, 2011
Busy times before the MBA
Its my last day working for Capital One. Been here for a little over 5 years- some journey this! :) I leave for London tomorrow. 20 days before I reach Oxford. Too excited already!
And there has been lots happening on the SBS /GTC front too. Thought will try and pen down some opportunities people can look forward to once they join the school.
- First up, opportunities for part time work at GTC. If you are interested in working for a little money on the sides whilst pursuing your MBA/MFE, do check with the college if there are any part time opportunities available (we got to know about a couple of positions) I guess these might vary each year so the best option might be to check with your college. Typical last date to apply for this year's roles were July-end so keep that in mind.
- Student Advisory Board and other opportunities to get involved- One of the thorns in the flesh of every international student applying at SBS is the student loan. Its a big effing pain. This is a problem I was really passionate about trying to fix or contribute to finding a solution that, whilst may not help me, would help future batches of the school. Fortunately, there are others who think alike. We've found out a student group that took this problem/challenge up as their EP this year. We've spoken to them and are discovering ways in which to contribute to the solution. Student Advisory Board is body that is the voice of the students to ensure the program me works in a way that it is supposed to. It is comprised of a President, a Secretary and a bunch of VPs ranging from Sports to Projects.
- Peer support- Its a program that is designed to train a group of students in basic listening skills so that they can provide support to those of their peers experiencing difficulties. As well as contributing to the pastoral life of the school, if you choose to take part, you will learn invaluable skills which are transferable in a wider context to many management and team building situations. Each college has about 10-14 of them, I think.
- Blogging- if you are the blogging kinds, you may want to be a part of the mba.sbsblogs.co.uk. Bunch of people have blogged there for years now- great place to get an idea of what life at SBS is like. There are also people who blog for places like FT, etc and are essentially school reps. This year, FT got a huge response for students from a number of schools wanting to blog on FT. And given that SBS was represented in 2010-11, we've got a break for this year. Alanna Petroff from the class of '11 was the SBS blogger in FT and wrote really well about her experiences at SBS.
- Sports clubs- GTC has a bunch of sports clubs for a number of sports from Cricket to Rugby to Running to Table Tennis. One gets information about Club leads in the info package post one has signed the contract. The package has details about the sports and the point of contacts. Table tennis and running are certain choices for me (and obviously Cricket too :p) ! There is also the MBAT (http://www.mbat.org/home.htm) to look forward to.
- Fantasy leagues- Craze for sports turns into complex numbers driven tasks :p Be ready for Fantasy leagues for EPL. Some people have started one for NFL too. Given how passionate people were about this and how uninformed I felt about NFL- I've decided to plunge into this one myself. American sports do seem quite number driven (haven't got my head around all the points scoring bit, but fortunately there are enough 'guides for dummies') I'll be happy if I am in the middle of the pack when the season ends:)
All this when the MBA hasnt even started! Whoosh!
And there has been lots happening on the SBS /GTC front too. Thought will try and pen down some opportunities people can look forward to once they join the school.
- First up, opportunities for part time work at GTC. If you are interested in working for a little money on the sides whilst pursuing your MBA/MFE, do check with the college if there are any part time opportunities available (we got to know about a couple of positions) I guess these might vary each year so the best option might be to check with your college. Typical last date to apply for this year's roles were July-end so keep that in mind.
- Student Advisory Board and other opportunities to get involved- One of the thorns in the flesh of every international student applying at SBS is the student loan. Its a big effing pain. This is a problem I was really passionate about trying to fix or contribute to finding a solution that, whilst may not help me, would help future batches of the school. Fortunately, there are others who think alike. We've found out a student group that took this problem/challenge up as their EP this year. We've spoken to them and are discovering ways in which to contribute to the solution. Student Advisory Board is body that is the voice of the students to ensure the program me works in a way that it is supposed to. It is comprised of a President, a Secretary and a bunch of VPs ranging from Sports to Projects.
- Peer support- Its a program that is designed to train a group of students in basic listening skills so that they can provide support to those of their peers experiencing difficulties. As well as contributing to the pastoral life of the school, if you choose to take part, you will learn invaluable skills which are transferable in a wider context to many management and team building situations. Each college has about 10-14 of them, I think.
- Blogging- if you are the blogging kinds, you may want to be a part of the mba.sbsblogs.co.uk. Bunch of people have blogged there for years now- great place to get an idea of what life at SBS is like. There are also people who blog for places like FT, etc and are essentially school reps. This year, FT got a huge response for students from a number of schools wanting to blog on FT. And given that SBS was represented in 2010-11, we've got a break for this year. Alanna Petroff from the class of '11 was the SBS blogger in FT and wrote really well about her experiences at SBS.
- Sports clubs- GTC has a bunch of sports clubs for a number of sports from Cricket to Rugby to Running to Table Tennis. One gets information about Club leads in the info package post one has signed the contract. The package has details about the sports and the point of contacts. Table tennis and running are certain choices for me (and obviously Cricket too :p) ! There is also the MBAT (http://www.mbat.org/home.htm) to look forward to.
- Fantasy leagues- Craze for sports turns into complex numbers driven tasks :p Be ready for Fantasy leagues for EPL. Some people have started one for NFL too. Given how passionate people were about this and how uninformed I felt about NFL- I've decided to plunge into this one myself. American sports do seem quite number driven (haven't got my head around all the points scoring bit, but fortunately there are enough 'guides for dummies') I'll be happy if I am in the middle of the pack when the season ends:)
All this when the MBA hasnt even started! Whoosh!
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Removing Quicktime player on Mac OS X Lion. VLC player is the daddy!
I recently downloaded Mac OS X Lion and as usual I tried to delete QuickTime Player so I could play all my media files on VLC Player. In Leopard,etc it was easy- just go to Applications and delete the QuickTime Player and empty the Trash. VLC then became the next best choice. Nice!
In Lion, however, I couldnt delete the QuickTime Player application and I got an error 'QuickTime Player cant be modified or deleted because it's required by Mac OS X'. Here is the workaround: Right click on any of the media files you want to play. Click on 'Get Info' Then click 'Open with', pick VLC Player. Then click 'Change All'
All set now. You can double click to play your files and not have to right click and then pick VLC. Enjoy!
In Lion, however, I couldnt delete the QuickTime Player application and I got an error 'QuickTime Player cant be modified or deleted because it's required by Mac OS X'. Here is the workaround: Right click on any of the media files you want to play. Click on 'Get Info' Then click 'Open with', pick VLC Player. Then click 'Change All'
All set now. You can double click to play your files and not have to right click and then pick VLC. Enjoy!
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Sound drivers for Macbook
Just trying to install Windows 7 through Bootcamp on my Macbook. After the initial pain of installing it, the sound on my Mac won't work. Finding a solution has been hard too. Though, now that I've found it, thought I'll post a link to the solution!
http://www.technews.biz/macbook-having-windows-7-audio-trouble-weve-got-your-driver-fix-444/
Great fix and worked like a charm! Now if only there was something as simple to fix the right click problem for the Macs!
http://www.technews.biz/macbook-having-windows-7-audio-trouble-weve-got-your-driver-fix-444/
Great fix and worked like a charm! Now if only there was something as simple to fix the right click problem for the Macs!
Tuesday, July 05, 2011
Before GMAT and after being admitted to Oxford! What to expect?
Before dreaming of making to Oxford, I wished someone laid out a simplistic step-by-step process to make it to a good college. Once in, what are the steps that are followed for a fresher to SBS?
Here it is then, my simplistic series of steps to apply to a college for an MBA (my case was that I applied to only Indian and UK schools):
1) Preparing for GMAT: Popular books are Official Guide for GMAT (OG), Kaplan, Princeton Review and Manhattan material. I'd strongly recommend OG as it features real questions that have been retired and questions appear in increasing order of difficulty so one can peg their performance and see how well they fare on tougher questions. For super tough questions on quant, I'd suggest Gmatclub's math tests. They are the toughest I saw and can give a good flavour of what to expect at 750+ level. Manhattan offers section by section guide. There are 2 free tests available from MBA.com so take one test at the start of your prep. Identify your weak areas and focus with greater intensity on them (while continuing to hone the strong areas too) through sectional guides e.g., Manhattan
2) GMAT score goal: (My view) As an Indian, aim for atleast a 700 to get a foot in the door at any good college. You can even take 2 or 3 attempts on GMAT if you want. GMAT score sheets report your previous scores too (and these are also shared with the school) Anything over 3 attempts will raise suspicion that one is just randomly trying one's luck. So prepare well, however, if you don't get the score you want you can re-take the test.
3) Application scheduling: Once done with GMAT, look at the colleges you'd like to apply to and list down their R1 and R2 dates. People adopt different strategies regarding the mix of R1 and R2 choices when applying (all top choices in R1 + all back ups in R2, Mix of top and back up in R1 + Remainders in R2, etc) So go with what you feel comfortable with. (I applied for all my top choices in R1)
4) Recommendations: Remeber most/all colleges ask for recommendations. Some from one's college profs and some from your work supervisors. Pick people who you know well and who can talk about you and your work rather than your VP or CEO (quality of the reco matters more than the title of the recommender) Loop in your potential recommender as quickly as possible and if you have a number of choices list down who will you chose for which college's recommendations. Try looking up the format of the recommendations in advance (whether they'd be sent links or word docs,etc) so the recommender is prepared. Talk to them about your aspirations and ensure they know why you are going for the course, etc so the application as a whole tells a consistent story
5) Essays: These, put mildly, are a BIG pain. I'd suggest think about sharing it like a story. Get the reader to be interested in what they read. Get 3-5 friends to proof read your essays for language, coherence in thought/message,etc. This should take up a good amount of time and ensure you don't take this lightly.
Once in Oxford, here is a list of steps that will follow your acceptance into SBS:
1) Welcome Kit by post
2) Get access to the SAID intranet. Register for Consulting/Finance boot camps.
3) Pay the initial deposit
4) Submit the offer acceptance form + list of colleges through the intranet
5) Submit the Financial Guarantee form
6) Admit email from College Admissions Dept.
7) College offer letter by post. Confirm by email
8) Secure housing with the college
9) CAS email from SAID
10) University contract from SAID by email
11) Send the University contract + Photograph by post
12) Complete paperwork and apply for Visa
13) Work with the housing coordinator to confirm move in dates
14) Fly in and have the year of your life!
Good luck with your journey!
Here it is then, my simplistic series of steps to apply to a college for an MBA (my case was that I applied to only Indian and UK schools):
1) Preparing for GMAT: Popular books are Official Guide for GMAT (OG), Kaplan, Princeton Review and Manhattan material. I'd strongly recommend OG as it features real questions that have been retired and questions appear in increasing order of difficulty so one can peg their performance and see how well they fare on tougher questions. For super tough questions on quant, I'd suggest Gmatclub's math tests. They are the toughest I saw and can give a good flavour of what to expect at 750+ level. Manhattan offers section by section guide. There are 2 free tests available from MBA.com so take one test at the start of your prep. Identify your weak areas and focus with greater intensity on them (while continuing to hone the strong areas too) through sectional guides e.g., Manhattan
2) GMAT score goal: (My view) As an Indian, aim for atleast a 700 to get a foot in the door at any good college. You can even take 2 or 3 attempts on GMAT if you want. GMAT score sheets report your previous scores too (and these are also shared with the school) Anything over 3 attempts will raise suspicion that one is just randomly trying one's luck. So prepare well, however, if you don't get the score you want you can re-take the test.
3) Application scheduling: Once done with GMAT, look at the colleges you'd like to apply to and list down their R1 and R2 dates. People adopt different strategies regarding the mix of R1 and R2 choices when applying (all top choices in R1 + all back ups in R2, Mix of top and back up in R1 + Remainders in R2, etc) So go with what you feel comfortable with. (I applied for all my top choices in R1)
4) Recommendations: Remeber most/all colleges ask for recommendations. Some from one's college profs and some from your work supervisors. Pick people who you know well and who can talk about you and your work rather than your VP or CEO (quality of the reco matters more than the title of the recommender) Loop in your potential recommender as quickly as possible and if you have a number of choices list down who will you chose for which college's recommendations. Try looking up the format of the recommendations in advance (whether they'd be sent links or word docs,etc) so the recommender is prepared. Talk to them about your aspirations and ensure they know why you are going for the course, etc so the application as a whole tells a consistent story
5) Essays: These, put mildly, are a BIG pain. I'd suggest think about sharing it like a story. Get the reader to be interested in what they read. Get 3-5 friends to proof read your essays for language, coherence in thought/message,etc. This should take up a good amount of time and ensure you don't take this lightly.
Once in Oxford, here is a list of steps that will follow your acceptance into SBS:
1) Welcome Kit by post
2) Get access to the SAID intranet. Register for Consulting/Finance boot camps.
3) Pay the initial deposit
4) Submit the offer acceptance form + list of colleges through the intranet
5) Submit the Financial Guarantee form
6) Admit email from College Admissions Dept.
7) College offer letter by post. Confirm by email
8) Secure housing with the college
9) CAS email from SAID
10) University contract from SAID by email
11) Send the University contract + Photograph by post
12) Complete paperwork and apply for Visa
13) Work with the housing coordinator to confirm move in dates
14) Fly in and have the year of your life!
Good luck with your journey!
Thursday, June 09, 2011
List of scholarships
I just got done with my interview at Narotam Sekhsaria Foundation yesterday and realised that I could do with some more sharing.
Funding one's education can be BIG pain, especially you've been selected at an awesome university abroad (speaking from within India's borders:)) and the university doesn't have a tie-up with a local bank to assist students with bank loans. Even in places where tie-ups exist, higher education costs a lot. Enter scholarships.
With my usual love for Microsoft Excel, I started to look up scholarships that I could apply to. This was followed by the research on the net and cold calling scholarships' admin offices asking them about the value of scholarships, eligibility, etc. The image (its a pain to create tables on blogger.com, hence, the easier fix of uploading an image:)) on the right is the summary of the scholarships I researched on. The first section has all the scholarships I applied to (so good for anyone applying for an MBA abroad). The second section has
scholarships I couldn't/didn't apply to. Hope this information will be useful to another scholarship seeker (click the pic to get a higher resolution image)!
Funding one's education can be BIG pain, especially you've been selected at an awesome university abroad (speaking from within India's borders:)) and the university doesn't have a tie-up with a local bank to assist students with bank loans. Even in places where tie-ups exist, higher education costs a lot. Enter scholarships.
With my usual love for Microsoft Excel, I started to look up scholarships that I could apply to. This was followed by the research on the net and cold calling scholarships' admin offices asking them about the value of scholarships, eligibility, etc. The image (its a pain to create tables on blogger.com, hence, the easier fix of uploading an image:)) on the right is the summary of the scholarships I researched on. The first section has all the scholarships I applied to (so good for anyone applying for an MBA abroad). The second section has
scholarships I couldn't/didn't apply to. Hope this information will be useful to another scholarship seeker (click the pic to get a higher resolution image)!
Friday, June 03, 2011
Pre MBA internship at a consulting firm
If people are interested in a pre-MBA internship opportunity with a consutling firm, you could check out the program at Deloitte :
http://careers.deloitte.com/united-states/students/csc_general.aspx?CountryContentID=16296
Its the most organised program that I've seen in my limited research on the web for Pre-MBA internship opportunities in a consulting firm. It should help people with no prior consulting background get a feel for what consulting is (and whether post MBA they'd like to take it up as a career option) and obviously a great PR initiative on Deloitte's part too (competition differentiator, I say!)
Shame that I just found out about it. Had I known about it earlier, would have definitely applied!
Just posting this for posterity and hoping that people in the coming batch(es) don't miss out on this great opportunity.
http://careers.deloitte.com/united-states/students/csc_general.aspx?CountryContentID=16296
Its the most organised program that I've seen in my limited research on the web for Pre-MBA internship opportunities in a consulting firm. It should help people with no prior consulting background get a feel for what consulting is (and whether post MBA they'd like to take it up as a career option) and obviously a great PR initiative on Deloitte's part too (competition differentiator, I say!)
Shame that I just found out about it. Had I known about it earlier, would have definitely applied!
Just posting this for posterity and hoping that people in the coming batch(es) don't miss out on this great opportunity.
Tuesday, May 03, 2011
My book of poems- Imperfect Perfections
I was looking through some of my posts and realised that I hadnt blogged about one of the biggest and most satisfying experiences of my life thus far. Its about the journey of getting my book published.
I think I have wanted to write ever since I was a little kid. I vividly remember having read the story of Robinson Crusoe in my 6th grade. The story inspired and enthralled me and I wrote a short story as a follow up. Word got around in the class that I had written a TWO PAGE story! Felt 'wow'. My English teacher was too busy to notice, however, on hearing some noise in the class about some kid having written a story, she asked me to show her my work. She rubbished it and that’s the last memory I have of that story.
I thought that this isn’t going to work and I so started writing poems. I remember writing a poem on our Independence Day when I was in the seventh grade. The poem got put up on the school notice board! Felt wow. I continued to write and sometimes it was about rather arbit stuff (one of my poems compared the life of a dog to that of a human and how the former was better than the latter)
This continued in school and later in college, when I’d write poems for some of my friends on their birthdays, etc. I’d also go on to write for Mansi- the love of my life. Along the way, I wrote time and again about life and also about dreams, solitude, fear and death among other bits.
Writing has always given me a dimension to express myself and has some times been therapeutic too. And often, when I begin to write, words seem to tumble out- whether its writing a paragraph or a poem, its great to let loose my mind on a piece of paper (or Microsoft Word!:))
Writing a book was a part of my bucket list and some time around the start of 2010 I decided to cross that item off the list. Mansi and I started to type all the poems and began sorting some stuff that felt too amateurish (it’s all relative!) and some that I wasn’t allowed to publish :)
I found a good self publishing firm in CinnamonTeal who helped me through getting it formatted, etc as well. Big shout out to my cousin, Mehak for doing the cover and some artwork inside the book along side Mansi. And after about a couple of months of dedicated hours- the book was published! Felt wow, again. Below is the book cover- isn’t it fab?!
Really pleased and proud of the effort Mehak and Mansi put in the book to see it through becoming a reality. One thing off my list!
PS: Please don’t ask about book sales- I have been asked this before and I have maintained it to be a “respectable” ‘double digit’ number :)
http://www.dogearsetc.com/mainpage.jsp?type=2&id=36718
Saturday, April 09, 2011
I dreamed a dream
Following on from my last post, I thought I'll write about my experience post the GMAT results.
Under-rating myself comes very naturally to me. Post a decent GMAT score, I thought I had a reasonable chance to get a foot in the door, if not more, with some elite/ultra elite colleges. And whilst I fiddled with that thought, at the back of my mind I was backing myself to be in one of the mid-tier colleges. Getting placed in anything renowned was dreaming a dream, something extremely out of place for my very ordinary education so far (I completed my graduation in Computer Sciences, studying a course which was unfortunately scrapped off after my batch. Even more unfortunate was the fact that ours was just the first batch! This graduation was sandwiched between schooling in decent schools that were no way 'best in class' and a post graduation through distance learning. So you know, nothing spectacular). Yet, I dreamed.
I'll readily agree that I do present a bit of a paradox. While I'll peg myself and prepare for moderation, alongside I'll continue to dream. Dream about a perfect world. Dream about success beyond imagination. Success beyond definition.
It was around one such dreams after getting my GMAT scores that I discovered that a friend of mine had gotten through Oxford's SBS for the MBA program there. I was catching up with him in person and was so simply overjoyed at his success that I can remember only two pieces of data from that moment. I remember the feeling of blood rushing through my heart and mind on hearing the news. Secondly, I remember the look on my friend's face on seeing how I reacted to his news. I was crazily happy and proud of his achievement. I now knew someone who'll be studying at Oxford. Oxford.
And so after some time as the dust settled, I continued to dream. I used my time well and gave my best shot in applications to a mix of colleges. Some middle of the pack (stuff that I was comfortablte with and backed myself to get it) and some dream colleges (Oxford, was one of them:))
Mansi and I proof read my applications so many times that near the time I submitted my application we'd get a sick feeling when reading the same passages over and over again. Yet, all seemed worth the effort when I got an interview call from Oxford. A call! Could the dream come true? Intense preps for the interview ensued. I was tense but confident and think I handled the meeting well. After the interview I was cautiosly optimistic.
The deadline for the results drew closer. And to say that I waited with abated breath won't be completely wrong. Then the eventful night came. As usual I was stuck to my blackberry and thought I'll check my emails before going to bed. As I refreshed my mailbox, I saw the note. I was offered a place in Oxford! Holy smoke!! The unreal was now real. I jumped with joy, hugged Mansi and held on forever. Shared the news with my parents and took their blessings too. I don't think I slept that night.
The news would sink in over the next few days as I'd realise that this was real. I would go on to accept the offered place and start prepping for my sojourn at Oxford. But that will be another dream. For now, I choose to bask in the glory of the moment. I dreamed a dream thats come alive. My head is a bit fuzzy with joy and pride. And here I promise to dream another dream.
Under-rating myself comes very naturally to me. Post a decent GMAT score, I thought I had a reasonable chance to get a foot in the door, if not more, with some elite/ultra elite colleges. And whilst I fiddled with that thought, at the back of my mind I was backing myself to be in one of the mid-tier colleges. Getting placed in anything renowned was dreaming a dream, something extremely out of place for my very ordinary education so far (I completed my graduation in Computer Sciences, studying a course which was unfortunately scrapped off after my batch. Even more unfortunate was the fact that ours was just the first batch! This graduation was sandwiched between schooling in decent schools that were no way 'best in class' and a post graduation through distance learning. So you know, nothing spectacular). Yet, I dreamed.
I'll readily agree that I do present a bit of a paradox. While I'll peg myself and prepare for moderation, alongside I'll continue to dream. Dream about a perfect world. Dream about success beyond imagination. Success beyond definition.
It was around one such dreams after getting my GMAT scores that I discovered that a friend of mine had gotten through Oxford's SBS for the MBA program there. I was catching up with him in person and was so simply overjoyed at his success that I can remember only two pieces of data from that moment. I remember the feeling of blood rushing through my heart and mind on hearing the news. Secondly, I remember the look on my friend's face on seeing how I reacted to his news. I was crazily happy and proud of his achievement. I now knew someone who'll be studying at Oxford. Oxford.
And so after some time as the dust settled, I continued to dream. I used my time well and gave my best shot in applications to a mix of colleges. Some middle of the pack (stuff that I was comfortablte with and backed myself to get it) and some dream colleges (Oxford, was one of them:))
Mansi and I proof read my applications so many times that near the time I submitted my application we'd get a sick feeling when reading the same passages over and over again. Yet, all seemed worth the effort when I got an interview call from Oxford. A call! Could the dream come true? Intense preps for the interview ensued. I was tense but confident and think I handled the meeting well. After the interview I was cautiosly optimistic.
The deadline for the results drew closer. And to say that I waited with abated breath won't be completely wrong. Then the eventful night came. As usual I was stuck to my blackberry and thought I'll check my emails before going to bed. As I refreshed my mailbox, I saw the note. I was offered a place in Oxford! Holy smoke!! The unreal was now real. I jumped with joy, hugged Mansi and held on forever. Shared the news with my parents and took their blessings too. I don't think I slept that night.
The news would sink in over the next few days as I'd realise that this was real. I would go on to accept the offered place and start prepping for my sojourn at Oxford. But that will be another dream. For now, I choose to bask in the glory of the moment. I dreamed a dream thats come alive. My head is a bit fuzzy with joy and pride. And here I promise to dream another dream.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Don't let it drag you down...
I've been thinking about trying to be more regular on my updates and thought will pen (?) down how I felt close to about an year back.
Around H2'09, I had been thinking about preparing for GMAT. By Dec, I had had a choppy ride with no goal of a score or a set test date in mind. Over the holidays I decided to push myself a little. I booked myself for a test in Jan week 1. I studied for a couple of weeks and set myself a goal of crossing 700. Why 700? On reading through various blogs, etc I realised that to apply to any decent college (btw, I hadn't even shortlisted the colleges I'd like to go for) as an Indian I'd have to get 700 to get a foot in the door. And even though I hadn't prepared a list of colleges that I'd aspire for- I thought about some reverse thinking. The test would help me shortlist colleges I could realistically apply for. I must admit I do suffer from diffidence ever so often and so did doubt if I belonged to a top college.
The test day came and I felt reasonably underprepared. I decided to take the plunge nonetheless. After 4 long hours I got 690 as my score. The score evoked mixed response from within. There was disappointment that I didnt cross the 700 mark and wondered if I should accept this as the best I could do and apply to colleges with this score itself. There was also hope that maybe I could do better and should aim higher. But I'd be lying if I said that the former wasn't the overpowering feeling immediately after the test.
I came home and thought about it for a couple of days and decided to re-take the test. I booked myself for a date in mid Feb and studied over the next 3 weeks with a focus to breach the 700-mark. The test day came and having not spent the night before well I was tense but still determined to give it my best. There were times during the test that I felt like dozing off, but pulled hard to stay focussed. The test ended and I came to the last step of deciding to publish my scores or not. I thought I had done well but could have done better. I stared the screen for 30 more secs and decided to go ahead with the scores. And I got 720!
Down the line, after shortlisting the colleges, applying to them, etc etc (more on that later I guess!) I have secured admission to Oxford's MBA program starting Oct'11. I am overjoyed to say the least (more on THAT as well :)).
Here are my key takeaways: don't lose hope- if you haven't reached your goal in the first go- try again! Never give up on hardwork- if there is one thing under one's control to succeed, its the effort one puts in. Don't underestimate yourself and aim as high as you can!
Around H2'09, I had been thinking about preparing for GMAT. By Dec, I had had a choppy ride with no goal of a score or a set test date in mind. Over the holidays I decided to push myself a little. I booked myself for a test in Jan week 1. I studied for a couple of weeks and set myself a goal of crossing 700. Why 700? On reading through various blogs, etc I realised that to apply to any decent college (btw, I hadn't even shortlisted the colleges I'd like to go for) as an Indian I'd have to get 700 to get a foot in the door. And even though I hadn't prepared a list of colleges that I'd aspire for- I thought about some reverse thinking. The test would help me shortlist colleges I could realistically apply for. I must admit I do suffer from diffidence ever so often and so did doubt if I belonged to a top college.
The test day came and I felt reasonably underprepared. I decided to take the plunge nonetheless. After 4 long hours I got 690 as my score. The score evoked mixed response from within. There was disappointment that I didnt cross the 700 mark and wondered if I should accept this as the best I could do and apply to colleges with this score itself. There was also hope that maybe I could do better and should aim higher. But I'd be lying if I said that the former wasn't the overpowering feeling immediately after the test.
I came home and thought about it for a couple of days and decided to re-take the test. I booked myself for a date in mid Feb and studied over the next 3 weeks with a focus to breach the 700-mark. The test day came and having not spent the night before well I was tense but still determined to give it my best. There were times during the test that I felt like dozing off, but pulled hard to stay focussed. The test ended and I came to the last step of deciding to publish my scores or not. I thought I had done well but could have done better. I stared the screen for 30 more secs and decided to go ahead with the scores. And I got 720!
Down the line, after shortlisting the colleges, applying to them, etc etc (more on that later I guess!) I have secured admission to Oxford's MBA program starting Oct'11. I am overjoyed to say the least (more on THAT as well :)).
Here are my key takeaways: don't lose hope- if you haven't reached your goal in the first go- try again! Never give up on hardwork- if there is one thing under one's control to succeed, its the effort one puts in. Don't underestimate yourself and aim as high as you can!
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