Life unfolds in unusual ways, and past one year perfectly illustrates that for me. A journey which started amidst the beautiful campus in Udaipur, loaded with a lot of learning- academic, professional and personal has given me more perspectives than that I would have gathered in, I don’t know, how many years.
The memory from the 1st day is still fresh in my mind. It was 1:00 am, 1st January 2018, when I entered the campus to the new year celebration in open ground, and I realized that these people and the surroundings are going to be my home for next few months.
I remember that amidst a lot of the hustle and bustle and contemplation, I decided to join the PGPX program at IIM Udaipur, a unique dual degree program, in which we get an MBA and MS from IIM & Purdue, as well- the exposure to 2 different institutes in two different countries make it an experience of a lifetime.
Along with me, 17 people from different geographies are part of the cohort, making for a mixed bag of personalities, opinions, knowledge, and experiences. The rigorous case study methodology, various class discussions, the exciting ways in which the professor taught ensures that the knowledge is not limited to the books. IIM Udaipur journey was not at all disappointing. The life after classes was interesting in itself: the out of nowhere recommendations to case studies; managing time amongst assignments, surprise quizzes, and pre-reads; waking all night to complete tasks; to saying “Kaha aa Gaye? Job hi achi chal Rahi thi”; the bonding and misunderstanding in the batch, the five months ended.
For the next two months, all head up for their internships to various companies and cities, excited to implement classroom learning. The excitement took a U-turn when slowly people started realising that what they studied isn’t working out in the organisation. People got stuck, tried multiple approaches and sought help from faculties, finally coming up with the right recommendation, fizzling out our frustration. While all this was going on, all were preparing themselves for the next exciting and unknown phase- The Purdue stint.
August came, and we flew to another part of the world- The United States of America. It is said that “Travel opens mind and heart to other people, places and things.”, The Purdue stint for me was precisely that: Till the time I was boarding the flight- I was not sure as what am I going to learn at Purdue that IIM Udaipur cannot teach, and to one of those rare times I was happy to be wrong. The US Culture, the diversity (so many diverse students from different countries, various backgrounds with rich experiences), the teaching methodologies were so new and unidentical that I learned a lot and a whole lot, in addition to what I learned at IIM Udaipur.
It broadened my mind; it helped me to look at things from different perspectives. I learned to get a holistic picture of cases and situations. When people from different background meet, all think in different ways, and that opened my mind. The class discussions made me understand about multiple countries and how all the political or business strategies are perceived. Five months was a steep curve for me at Purdue. There was a lot to do, experience and learn. I did my best to experience everything. The feeling of FOMO was so much evident in me.
With time, the Purdue stint ended, and I am back to India for the last module. Now when a year has passed, and we are about to leave we say “Ek saal kaise gaya..pata hi Nahi Chala. ab fir wapas job wali life.”
The year has been everything one can think off- exciting, confusing, frustrating of new learnings, of new relationships, new places, of new perspectives. I look back, and I see myself change from the girl that I was earlier. I learned a lot about myself, and I know myself better now. The last one year has developed me professionally and personally, and I can sense the same for my batchmates. I am sure we could not have expected more from the course. A part of life that will always remain close to our heart and an ocean of experience.