Mystory@Sowmya Vaidyula: How I chose my course and college

Mystory@Sowmya Vaidyula

In a dilemma of choosing the correct stream for myself I thought of consulting my parents and they were of the opinion that I would do better in commerce than any other stream, but they left the decision to me as to which subject interests me the most. To clear my confusion, my mother, a commerce teacher, taught me basics of accounts for few days and I automatically started loving this subject and decided to choose commerce. I did my Graduation in commerce from SPB Commerce College, Surat. As I had a lot of interest in learning about different

types of taxes; I chose specialization in taxation which is available only in SPB Commerce College in Surat and that made me join this college. During my graduation, I developed interest in management studies as I managed quite a few things in college as a coordinator. Thus I decided to do post-graduation in management. I wanted to move out of Gujarat to pursue further studies and thought of going to a place I was familiar with. Hyderabad being my native place, I decided to go there for further studies. I analyzed various b-schools in Hyderabad and found IPE to be the best among them and thus joined it.

How I cracked college admission

As mentioned earlier, I managed many things during my graduation. To be precise, I gave tuition to primary school children which helped me polish my mathematics and also generate income. With that money I took coaching for CMAT exam from IMS which has a branch in Surat. Every day, I used to have a hectic schedule - going to college, attending all the lectures, coming back home to teach those children and then rushing to the coaching center. And after a long day, I used to study at night to prepare for the entrance exam. The coaching institute would conduct weekly tests to prepare us for the D-day. I learnt to manage time during those days which helped me a lot in clearing the exam. But my major problem was mathematics and I was scared of it which refrained me from scoring better in the examination. I managed to score 60 percentile and was not satisfied with it so thought of taking a drop for a year to appear for it again. But my parents did not allow me to do so as I had already got a call letter from IPE. So I took admission in IPE (Institute of Public Enterprise). I did not apply to any other college because of location and my score.

What I gained from my college experience

It has been 8 months since I have joined this college and I don’t know how time flew so fast. I spend most of my day attending classes. After classes, I spend my remaining time reading news and other articles related to business and management. We have many discussions on various current topics happening around and that adds to my knowledge. In college, we do all the activities in teams. This has taught me how to interact with people and also how to do a job effectively as a team. Management is all about working in teams, managing and working cordially with the members involved. Teamwork has improved my leadership qualities and I am in a process to improve further. Other than studies many activities are organised in the college. By participating in those activities one also gets ample knowledge and experience. One such activity is Samarthya, a set of management games conducted by our college. I participated in it with a team of seven members. I also participated in a two-day workshop on marketing at IIM Ahmedabad where I was exposed to the happenings of the corporate world on a common platform. It was a way to connect our knowledge to the real experience of the various entrepreneurs.  I learnt many things by organizing Agragami - the HR event of our college’s management festival called Sanskriti. I am also a volunteer for Startupedia - a platform for all budding entrepreneurs.

I prepared a research paper on India’s overall economic growth which was submitted to PAN IIM conference organized by IIM Ahmedabad and supported by ministry of HRD, Government of India. It included literature review and research methodology of all the parameters taken to analyze the economic growth of India with respect to other countries.

This experience has changed me in many ways. I used to be an introvert but the exposure I got after joining this course converted me into an extrovert. I even started analyzing things happening around with a business perspective. I have become more responsible towards whatever work I do. This course is molding me to become an efficient leader.

About the Author:

I am Sowmya Vaidyula pursuing post-graduation in management from Institute of Public Enterprise, Hyderabad. I am passionate about learning new things. In my leisure time I enjoy dancing and listing to good music, painting and reading some good articles that help me learn different aspects of living a good life.