One Year MBA Experience at Great Lakes, Chennai

May 10, 2019 | Posted by BPR Team << back to blog

Bhavya Jatwani from PGPM Class of 2019 is all set to graduate on May 21, 2019 at the 15th Great Lakes Annual Convocation. In this blog, he walks down the memory lane on the last day in Campus, and shares his One Year MBA experience at Great Lakes, Chennai.

As I sit in the midst of this plush green campus, where the chirruping of birds’ echo in my ears and the fire ball is quietly whispering ‘Au Revoir‘, just like a lot of my fellow mates here did already, I could only think of all the beautiful memories that I am taking back.

I remember, after spending initial few weeks at campus, I couldn’t help but coin my own version of MBA – ‘Matricizing Business Aspects‘. I feel an MBA is less about acquiring any specific skill, but more of acquiring all set of business and managerial skills in the world; it is deriving the unobvious from the obvious; lightening the un-lightened bulbs inside our minds; in toto it gives you a perspective to things by diving deep into stuff!

Before deciding to go for an MBA, I was quite apprehensive owing to my qualms about ‘studying’. I blurted it out to one of my mentor for which he quashed back saying, “MBA isn’t merely about studying, it is an Experience in itself”. Now, that I have completed my one year residential program at this green campus, I cannot agree more to that statement! Walking down the memory lane to Day 1 when I first stepped into this campus, I was totally flummoxed and ambivalent to say the least. Nonetheless, the scorching heat and uninvited bafflement couldn’t keep me from decorating my way from the gate towards the hostel room with dreams and hopes.

During the registration process, I had a conversation with one of the professors where I asked him, “Sir, now that we are done with the registration formalities, what next?” He chuckled and replied, “You are free for now, but tomorrow onwards, we will make sure you are not!” Well, that sounded thrilling but also nervous at the same time because I didn’t know how high I had to pull up my socks!

The second day kick started with Ice breaker – an outbound, team building program. The activities tested the endurance in all of us. There was a sudden blow of discipline and decorum which seemed imperative that went into hibernation mode, followed by official starting of classes, endless assignments, projects and term examinations. Contemplating the year foregone, it feels like a flow of river! You jump, the flow dictates and takes you along, perhaps that’s what pretty much happened. Assignment deadlines ranged from the midnight to first ray of dawn (also when I realized why the seniors say “Great Lakers never sleep”). By all means there were times when I felt jaded & enervated but that feeling was transient as another task was waiting to occupy the forefront of my mind.

Pondering over, I can vouch for the fact that it was truly an unleashing experience wherein I did what I couldn’t believe I could! There are a lot of things coming to my mind which can potentially cement the base of aforementioned statement but the winner happens to be “learning how to function without sleeping”, indubitably that was an uphill task for me!

This rings a bell in my mind wherein one of the professors had advised us to get up at 6:30 in the morning and focus on the health as well. It took me by surprise as it couldn’t sink in so easily because it seemed humanly impossible and pretty paradoxical because of a truck load of mind numbing toils on my to-do list already. And then, there was no stopping; from heavy core terms, to the soaring pressure during the placement season, which became palpable eventually. It all went one after the other and seemed like a sprint. However, as they say, we are not really aware of what we are capable of doing. Going back to where I mentioned “unleashing”; now in hindsight I feel that it was most certainly plausible! I continue to break the sweat till date in the irresistible sports facilities encompassing the campus, which were tantalizing me since day one.

Nevertheless, be it an engineer who had negligible idea of accounting, or an arts student who had just overheard the term “Analytics”, all sailed through the storm and conquered it! A decent percentage of credit to all this goes to the world class and eminent faculty that this school possesses!

Another notable thing which I really appreciate here is the “diversity”! Words of our esteemed and respected Dean, Uncle Bala, “Unity in Diversity” engraved on a stone in the campus seemed to truly hold water. I came across people from all parts of the country. In such an environment one often explores and eventually moves out his cocoon and starts to respect the differences. I was no different here! My core group consisted of people from South, Center, East from the country. We celebrated festivals ranging from Christmas to Lohri to Holi with unity and I could not enjoy more at this place called home away from home!

Though this indelible journey was ineffable, by and large, I can state without a shadow of doubt that this one year not only MBA-ed me but has also railed me on the track which I had decorated with dreams the day I entered here.

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