Shiri Agarwal

Dear connections, I am elated to share two words: “MBA done!” 🎉 It wasn’t without its share of 𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬, which helped maintain the balance between 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬. Sharing some of it below to not only inspire the upcoming batches but also highlight that setbacks should not stop anyone. ✨ 𝑨𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔: 1) 34 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘉-𝘚𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘗𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘶𝘮𝘴 including Godrej LOUD, Amazon Ace, Goldman Sachs WPS, Ascend Tesco Challenge, PwC Challenge 5.0, Vicco Ltd., ZEE5, UP Tourism, IIM K, IIM L, etc. 2) 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 18 𝘌𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 through the Student Exchange Program which helped develop the skills that are necessary for you to survive when you are on your own 3) Had the best learning experience as 𝘑𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘳 𝘚𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘈𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘺𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘜𝘯𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪, India’s first student run investment group, and Helped to conduct TEDxMDIGurgaon 3.0 as a Member of 𝘛𝘌𝘋𝘹𝘔𝘋𝘐 𝘎𝘶𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘰𝘯 4) 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘵 𝘈𝘮𝘢𝘻𝘰𝘯 𝘐𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘢 which was my first corporate experience and developed my interest in the field of ProdMan 𝑺𝒆𝒕𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒔: 1) 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘗𝘗𝘚𝘐 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘎𝘰𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘫 (Learning: Take care of your health especially during the initial months of MBA which are rigorous. Taking too much stress helps no one.) 2) 𝘋𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢 𝘊𝘎𝘗𝘈 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 8 (Learning: This feels bad especially when you have never scored below 9 before. But there are a lot of things to do in MBA. You need to set priorities. For some it might be acads, for others co-curricular activities and so on.) 3) 𝘋𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘗𝘗𝘖 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 (Learning: This was my lowest point in MBA. It feels disheartening when you put in hard work even on weekends. But it’s important to realise that it’s not the end of the world. Most importantly, learn from the mistakes made and then, move on.) 4) 𝘋𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘨𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 10 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 despite sleepless nights spent on research and ideation (Learning: Just because you are putting in hard work, doesn’t mean it is in the right direction. Had some of my best learnings here.) This journey wouldn’t have been possible without the constant support and guidance of my Family, Friends, Seniors and Professors. 😊 MDI, you made me believe that “𝐌𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬”. ♥

At 19 - wrote CAT 20 - Joined one of India’s top 15 B-schools 22 - Completed MBA and started the first job People often ask me how I finished so early. Here’s my journey in short: - Started school at 3 (skipped nursery) - Completed school at 17  - Graduated at 20 (3 years of Bachelor of Management Studies) - No gap years. No prior work experience before MBA While this worked out for me, it might not make sense to others. Some have gap years; some prefer work experience prior MBA; some after - in short, 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲'𝘀 𝗷𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗱. Being one of the youngest in the batch came with its own mix of pros and cons: 🔷 Stepping into a classroom where half of the peers already had years of corporate experience at big MNCs felt daunting at first as they could instantly relate to concepts being taught, but then I got to learn from their insightful and practical stories. 🔷 On one hand, I worried if my ideas would be taken seriously and if I would be given the opportunity to lead, on the other, I was more open to experiment because of fewer preconceived notions about how things should be done. In essence, every journey has its own opportunities and challenges. 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵 - 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗮𝘂𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝘁. 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗷𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂. If you’re starting your MBA (or even considering one), don’t worry about matching someone else’s timeline. Focus on what you bring to the table, what’s your why, and how you can learn from the people around you. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶?

𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐌𝐁𝐀 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐈𝐈𝐌 𝐀 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮! It’s okay. Congratulations!! Celebrate 😃 I wasn’t sure I was going to get any college from top 15 at 97.11 percentile and I said to my mom, “I am fine if I don’t get IIM A, but at least I wish to be part of any tier 1 college and I will prove my worth. I will not let that college get disappointed.” Fortunately, MDI happened. And, I made sure I was doing something worthwhile every month. So: 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘺, 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘉-𝘚𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭, 𝘣𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝐃𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐈𝐈𝐌 𝐀-𝐫𝐞𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝. 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐲, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 (𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞)’𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝. 𝘚𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘺, 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘣 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘺. One of the major thing that differentiates a Top college from other colleges is the plethora of opportunities that former gets. They have to choose from the sea of opportunities. But at your college, even if the number of opportunities is limited, at least you won’t have to choose. Make most of all the opportunities coming your way, be it participating in case competitions, doing certifications to level up your skills, asking connections on LinkedIn for live projects, etc. Just push yourself out of your comfort zone, and do it! 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐬𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 2 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 2 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐚 𝐓𝐨𝐩 𝐁-𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 '𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐠' 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬. Read the last line again. That’s it, folks. All the best! ✨ In case you want to talk about anything, find me @ https://lnkd.in/gSyBW_bJ P.S. Red bricks' building of MDI 👇