Evanston Through The Viewfinder
It’s been a little more than 9 months for me here at Evanston, and I’m already in my final quarter. Yes, such is the pace of the Kellogg 1Y MBA program and I confirm that the Roadrunner (section name of the 1 Year Class) unofficial tagline – “Twice the fun, done in 1” has stood the test of yet another batch.
As my fellow bloggers are doing a tremendous job of keeping everyone well informed about the goings on in Kellogg, I thought of sharing some of my favorite moments from the Winter quarter that just whizzed past.
I moved to Evanston from India last June, and had never, ever, seen snow in my life. You can imagine my excitement when we got the first real snow of the year this January! In fact I was so worried about the snow melting that in the biting cold I set off for my snow photo walk in the middle of the storm. For those who’ve heard horror stories about the Chicago winter I can tell you it’s actually far more bearable than those tales. Though I agree my perspective is based on just this season, which apparently was one of the warmest in almost a century. Or thereabouts. Anyway, the place looks stunning when covered in white, and no two ways about that.
The one thing I absolutely was determined about doing while at Kellogg, even before coming here, was being a part of the legendary Kellogg Super Bowl ad review. Conducted by our rockstar professors Calkins and Rucker, and a group of selected students, the advertisements aired during the Super Bowl are analyzed and evaluated by the team using Kellogg’s ADPLAN framework. I was very pumped to be a part of the team, and at the end of the match (which in itself was a lot of fun!) we decided that the winner was M & M’s “It’s that kind of a party” commercial. Here’s the complete report card published by Kellogg.
With recruitment for the full time positions and summer internships over for most students by the middle of February, it was time for the Kellogg Student Association (KSA) X-Prize Ping Pong Tournament. We had the entire range of players from national level champions from India to people holding a paddle for the first time. There were two categories – beginners and advanced and they were won by my friends Gajendra Sidana & Apaar Kasliwal. Here’s a shot of me trying my hand in the beginners bracket. Reached the semi-finals, and didn’t complain!
With the unusually mild winter, we also had an early onset of beautiful spring and here’s a shot I took of Jacobs Center (the main Kellogg building in Evanston) on one such balmy spring evening. The place is just gorgeous!
When they say there’s never a dull moment out here, they really mean it. Right after the travel-packed spring break for most students, the spring quarter kicked off with the very well attended Africa Business Conference held in the amazing Allen Center. We had H. E. Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, former President of Nigeria as the keynote speaker amongst a host of other distinguished guests. It was fascinating to hear about the innovative ways in which the African businesses have found solutions to the continent’s problems. All of us attending the conference left it with an acute sense of optimism about Africa in the coming years.
Finally I wanted to leave you with this shot of Evanston (taken at the crossing of Clark and Chicago Avenues). I couldn’t be happier about having taken the big decision to quit my job (and my wife had to quit hers) and come halfway across the world for the Kellogg experience. Worth it!