My first week in the One-Year MBA program
By Amrit Chavada
It’s hard to believe it has only been a week since I stepped into the Jake (Kellogg’s Jacobs Center) on Northwestern’s Evanston campus. The past seven days have been a whirlwind of activities, all a part of CIM — Complete Immersion in Management — the orientation program for new students.
From information sessions, course selection to fun team-building events like improv sessions, baseball games and cruises, CIM was a fun transition into school mode.
Here are my three highlights from CIM:
1) Introspection:
Throughout the orientation we were constantly asked to evaluate what our overall life goals are and think about how Kellogg fits into those. Business school is a great opportunity to evaluate or re-evaluate life goals.
2) Peers:
The saying, “If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room” applies very well here. As a part of CIM, a member of the admissions committee read some of the achievements of my fellow classmates (without identifying who each person was). I knew then and there I was definitely in the right room.
3) Team Building:
In just a week’s time, I am able to recall over fifty of my section mates’ names. As a person who usually struggles with getting names and faces right, I can attribute it largely to an alliterative name game we played as a part of our CIM activities. Going out together every night also helped.
The combination of CIM and my first few classes have definitely put to rest some of my apprehensions about getting back in the classroom. Like most of my fellow 1Ys, I am looking forward to a beautiful summer of learning and fun in Evanston!
Amrit Chavada is a student in Kellogg’s One-Year MBA Program. Prior to Kellogg she worked in brand management and marketing roles in retail. She is from Mumbai, India.