What has been your most rewarding experience at Kellogg? While looking through various potential questions as I started preparation for interviews with various firms in the next few weeks weeks, the above question made me pause and think.
While, there have been several gains and lifetime experiences for me in this short span of time at Kellogg (such as a peek into the world of Finance, a bunch of great friends, etc.), it made me wonder what can be that one great experience that might have had a significant impact on me.
Well, as it turns out I did step out of the box and took a step back and am now seeing better the bigger picture. All my life and career, I had been among engineers; I have been trained to think like one and view the world through an engineer's eyes. Not that it is bad (in fact, it is one of the most successful professions/perceptions out there in the world), but my realization that there are other dimensions to view helped me to better see the diversity and its purpose.
As an engineer, perhaps I was just focused on the working of the engine and its parts, and the relentless efforts have been to perfect it. But, when I stepped back I could see that while the engine is the heart, there is more to the automobile that we can find fascinating. I even see that a soft cushion added to the seat, though may not add any functionality to the automobile's working, still adds comfort to make the drive smooth and enjoyable.
At the business school, everyday I keep meeting and interacting with fascinating people from varied backgrounds and professions - not just banking, consulting, and engineering/tech industries, but also social service, community organizing, public/government service, law, military, non-profit, journalism, and so on.
I learnt to respect more the existence of all ways and professions, however small or big their contributions are to the smooth running of the world; everything that exists has a purpose - if there was none, it would not have even existed in the first place, isn't it?
And the respect multiplies when we see that there is always something new to learn from them, especially when the time at Kellogg is so limited.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Hoping For A Perfect Ten
Wish you a very happy new year. May the year Twenty Ten bring you joy and success.
So, the Cowboys have made it into the playoffs with style, shutting out the Eagles all through the four quarters. Now, the hope is that the Cowboys do not repeat their playoff performance in recent years - losing the first playoff game itself!!
The second quarter at Kellogg is beginning on Monday. Most first year students hope to close the recruitment deal in this quarter. So, may all our hopes for this quarter be fulfilled.
I just returned from Portland, Oregon, which is my 32nd US state to visit in the past 12 years. I hope to travel to at least two more new states in 2010. All it requires is just some money (not so difficult) and find some time (not so easy).
As I walk 2.5 miles daily between my apartment and Kellogg, I only hope that the winter in Chicago this quarter will not be too harsh on us. And, the only positive side I see in walking in these egregious temperatures is the chance to burn fat at a faster rate!!
As we all begin the year 2010 with great hope, I want to share with you the quote (that I recently read in the book "Built to Last", and which I think captures to some extent my attitude in many things I do):
Far better to dare mighty things,
to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure,
than to take rank with those poor spirits
who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the
gray twilight that knows not victory, nor defeat.
-- Theodore Roosevelt, 1899
So, try even if the success seems doubtful; because, not even trying for the fear of defeat is a crime. Success can be stumbled upon only if we keep trying and moving.
So, the Cowboys have made it into the playoffs with style, shutting out the Eagles all through the four quarters. Now, the hope is that the Cowboys do not repeat their playoff performance in recent years - losing the first playoff game itself!!
The second quarter at Kellogg is beginning on Monday. Most first year students hope to close the recruitment deal in this quarter. So, may all our hopes for this quarter be fulfilled.
I just returned from Portland, Oregon, which is my 32nd US state to visit in the past 12 years. I hope to travel to at least two more new states in 2010. All it requires is just some money (not so difficult) and find some time (not so easy).
As I walk 2.5 miles daily between my apartment and Kellogg, I only hope that the winter in Chicago this quarter will not be too harsh on us. And, the only positive side I see in walking in these egregious temperatures is the chance to burn fat at a faster rate!!
As we all begin the year 2010 with great hope, I want to share with you the quote (that I recently read in the book "Built to Last", and which I think captures to some extent my attitude in many things I do):
Far better to dare mighty things,
to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure,
than to take rank with those poor spirits
who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the
gray twilight that knows not victory, nor defeat.
-- Theodore Roosevelt, 1899
So, try even if the success seems doubtful; because, not even trying for the fear of defeat is a crime. Success can be stumbled upon only if we keep trying and moving.
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