Mystory@Cinu Clement: What I gained from my college experience

Mystory@Cinu Clement

As a kid, I always wanted to be a pilot. I guess most kids would have dreamt about flying. But this is not why I chose Science during my higher secondary school. I had no idea what I was doing or why I was doing a Science course during class XI-XII. Just because everyone around me was doing the same, I never bothered.

How I chose my course & college

I did exceptionally well in Physics and Math and was crazy about cars. These were

the only reasons I could manage to opt for Mechanical Engineering at John Cox Memorial CSI Institute of Technology. Not only the syllabus was a decade old, the subjects weren’t what I thought they would be. Exactly as they say, “In India, after engineering, people decide what they want to be”; I was no different. At that point I decided to do one more trial and error with my life. I was done with my technical education and felt like trying something else, something more interesting. Took some advice from people in the industry and decided to pursue MBA. Just because it was a trial and error attempt, I wasn’t that serious about pursuing my way to a premier B-school. So I did very little preparation and managed to get admission in a decent B-School. That’s how I ended up in Vignana Jyothi Institute of Management (VJIM). But after coming here, almost at the end of the course, I can say one thing – Not a single day I regretted joining this course or college. It was worth the effort and wait.

How I cracked my college admission

As I mentioned, I wasn’t serious about cracking the prestigious CAT exam, but my inherited analytical skills helped me manage a decent score and to get into a decent B-school. Since it was trial and error, obviously you go for more than one trial, and being an engineer makes it worse. I gave CAT, MAT, XAT and IIFT. I tried for similar range B-schools like VJIM, including IPE, UPES, Siva Sivani, Christ University, Amrita College etc.

How my college experience changed me as a person

VJIM was a whole new experience for me, an experience I would cherish all my life. It changed me a lot – my perception, attitude towards life & career, my personality and literally everything. Being an extrovert I fell in love with the diversity here, people coming from different parts of the country. First few months I was busy networking with everyone, hostel life made it better.

The best thing about MBA/PGDM is you can relate everything with the outside world and your life. Everything makes sense. Each and every class was thought provoking and added value. And MBA is not just about academics, you get to taste the business world with club activities, committees, competitions and a lot of events. One thing in VJIM that makes me proud of myself is that I had the privilege of heading the PR Committee for two years, which brought out the people management and leadership skills in me. I would suggest any graduate to experience B-school life because it truly is life changing in a very positive way. We all miss the big picture of our life, give priorities to things that do not even matter, and follow an education system that does not respect one’s individuality. To me MBA is like the book “The Alchemist”. I discovered myself here and what I want to do with my life. Once when I asked my mentor, “What are we chasing in life?” He told me, “At the time of our last few moments in this world, we look back and if we can see one change that we made in this world that we can be proud of, that gives meaning to our existence. We are chasing that”.

About the Author:

I am pursuing PGDM-Operations & Marketing at VJIM. My hobbies include reading, writing & Table tennis. I am a nature-lover, adventure enthusiast, extrovert, a kind of person who wants to make a change in the way people see this world. I love to explore the diversity of this country as well as the world. Engineer by degree, not so tech savvy but I love to follow technology and read about it.