Mystory@Khushbu Jagad: How I chose my course and college

Mystory@Khushbu Jagad

Since the beginning, I have been a bright student. When I passed my SSC with flying colours, everyone in family and relatives advised me to take up Science stream. But I was always interested in Commerce and business. Business practicalities have always been fascinating for me. So based on my interest area, I opted for commerce in HSC.

After HSC, the doors were again open for BCom, BBA and professional courses like CA, CS and ICWA. Since I was interested in holistic learning, I opted for BCom to gain knowledge of all the subjects and lessons which are important in the commercial world like Accounts, Finance, Business Administration, Economics, Taxation, Costing and Marketing. In Commerce, I really enjoyed the fundamentals of business and the curiosity to learn more was growing intense as I went through three terms of my bachelor degree program. Now it was time to decide whether to continue studies or go for a job as there were some campus jobs offered in my college R J Tibrewal Commerce College. There was a good opportunity to step into the real world and start my career but I was eager to learn and study more. So further, I planned to pursue MBA to satisfy my eagerness to learn the nitty-gritties of business more.

The first step to get into a good MBA college was to score good marks in CMAT. So I started preparing for CMAT six months prior to the exam. My hard work paid off and I secured good score in CMAT gaining a place in the merit list of B K School of Management. But destiny had other plans for me. Before the results of CMAT were out, I was looking for other MBA colleges in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar and I found Oakbrook Business School. I was really impressed with the vision and mission of Oakbrook Business School and the pedagogy they were planning to adopt to groom the students for their professional life. So I decided to choose Oakbrook to pursue MBA.

Oakbrook Business School does not take any entrance exam for admission. But if you really want to score well in CMAT or MAT, then I would like to give one advice that practice, practice and practice. Without enough of practice, you will never able to score good marks in such exams. More practical is required for English Comprehensions and Reasoning and Math tricks to save your time during the exam. You can also go for good tuition classes for preparing for these exams.

What I gained from my college experience

My college life in Oakbrook Business School was the best part in my life. In Oakbrook, I developed myself from an immature student to a mature, dedicated and focused professional. I learnt many lessons of life in Oakbrook. In the real meaning, I learned management. It taught us to manage the contingencies, time management and the optimal utilization of resources. Whether you are in HR, Finance or Marketing, a holistic managerial approach is required to succeed.

Along the way, I made many mistakes as well. I was a little scared of speaking and communicating my ideas and thoughts but slowly and gradually I learned that it is the most important thing to express yourself otherwise no one is going to notice you. However good you are at your studies, if you don't speak up your mind, no one will know the kind of intellect you have. So a very big learning was to make yourself presentable.
The second most important learning was not to be over confident. When the 1st semester results were out, I got the first rank in Gujarat Technological University with 9.0 SPI. I was so happy that my dream came true as I couldn't achieve this in my bachelor but I had done it in master’s. That was a huge success for me. But it led to a sense of over confidence in me and in the second semester, I was out of the toppers’ list of my University. That day I realised that it was my biggest weakness that I always become over confident and lose my focus. So it was high time and I braced up for studies. And yes, again I was a University topper in 3rd and 4th semester, this time with consistency.

I have also learnt managing events at college where I organised various conclaves, seminars, industry open forums etc. It helped me to utilize my theoretical management knowledge in practice. Right now, where I am and what all I have achieved, that makes me feel that I have chosen a right career for me. The lessons I learned in my master’s is helping me in my professional as well as personal life as MBA is a practical world where you learn practical things apart from theories. We all know student life brings tremendous learning but I must say learning is a lifelong activity and many life learning experiences have a value equivalent to college-level coursework. In professional life also you keep on learning many things each and every day.

I know not everyone knows what they want to do in their life or what they want to become but I am sure everyone knows what they like and what they don't. Based on that you can choose your career. If I give my example then, as I was a bright student. My mom wanted me to opt for biology but I knew that I was scared of blood and injuries. So if I had chosen biology, I would have become a very bad doctor. So go where you find your work interesting for you and you know that you are going to like your work.

About the Author:

I’m Khushbu Jagad, working with S&P Global Market Intelligence in Quality Control Department as Data Audit Analyst. I’m an MBA with finance specialization and currently pursuing PhD in Management. I presented a research paper at International Research Conference held by JBIMS on a topic of Financial Inclusion. I like teaching and consulting. Travelling is my hobby.