10 days to launch......

Well the pic says it all.. in another 10 days I will be part of the Class of 2011 at ISB*applause*

A dream which started a couple of years back and culminated on Feb 12th 2010 with that auspicious email from PGPAdmissions.

Dear Avishek,

Congratulations! We are delighted to inform you that on the basis of a comprehensive and careful evaluation process, ........ yada yada yada.... you have been offered admission.... yada yada yada.....

We look forward to welcoming you to the Class of 2011.

I still remember the Friday morning, when while browsing through the morning emails on my iPhone I saw these golden words... I would have read the email atleast thrice before I literally screamed and danced all over my room. Life has zoomed past @ 110mph since then... had had a difficult time leaving my amazing set of friends back in US, leaving Kraft, Chicago and yeah even Infosys... had walked among my set of friends, relatives and acquaintances with my head held high...and had felt both great and humble along the way. In short the last month and a half had been a fairy tale... have enjoyed every bit of it (minus the heat in Kol) and glowed in all the attention and adulation I received.

Now that there are only a handful of days left before I begin my journey I cannot help but pause and introspect about what this 1 year would mean to me... will it be all positive or will I even lose something... let's begin...

Admission to a premier college is more often than not a passport to a good career... its the springboard which gives you the extra push from behind.. in an otherwise normal life this elevates you to a different level... if you are smart enough, if not anything, it does attach some credibility to your name and also gets you a network of high achievers around the world. There are other several benefits both tangible and intangible which has been written over and over in several newspapers and journals and self help books the world over. So is really everything an icing on the cake... Will I lose something or is everything going to be on the way up from here?

Well this question eludes me all the more now.. here are few things I feel will change (and I leave it open for one to decide if they are positive or negative)....In all probability I will be part of a rat race amongst a set of high achievers... the competition and pressure will be maddening... almost everyone will try to outsmart each other, learning and enjoying in the process and am not only talking about just this ONE year...ISB would just be a trailer to what lays in store for me in my life ahead.... a good job generally translates to more hard work, additional responsibilities and maybe added tension and a busier life. The bar is raised and so will your life (not only materialistic) but otherwise...

So is this what one would really want? Is this just another way of feeling self-important? well I think neither.. I am a firm believer that if you find something you enjoy then it stops being a liability... one of the biggest reasons I wanted to do MBA in the first place was to break free from the monotonicity of my life and my job, and in this regard getting back to school does give you the time to pause a little and do some self-introspection... another chance to maybe try out something new... and an entry into new avenues and perspectives which otherwise would have been either impossible or very difficult to achieve....and this is where places like ISB and other univs in the West with their diverse group help foster to a certain extent....

How far will I be successful? Only time will tell... How am I feeling at this point in time? - well both exuberant and scared.... the next 1 year is going to be crazy and also probably (as many alums say) the best year of my life yet..... I hope am able to live up to the expectations of my well wishers and yeah both learn and enjoy along the way!

ISB Class of 2011, here I come!!! whoooooooooooooooooooooooooosh