By Harish Kondreddy
Making the transition to graduate school doesn’t have to be a challenge. I came to Bentley University a year ago to take part in the Emerging Leaders MBA program from my home in India. Getting used to my new life was a bit of a transition, but it was also a fresh start. New acquaintances soon turned into new friends, and my coursework and life in the U.S. produced many positive experiences. Reflecting on all that happened in my first year of graduate school brings back a lot of emotions of nostalgia and excitement for the future. I now feel very close to my new life experiences at Bentley and to achieving the goals I set for myself.
It wasn’t always easy, however. I went through an emotional phase for a couple of months being away from my family. But the vibrancy of Bentley’s professors and my fellow MBA students enabled me to soon get comfortable. Now, Bentley feels like my second home. I think my successful transition can be traced back to six things.
1. BECOMING FAMILIAR WITH NEW SURROUNDINGS
I started to understand American culture by attending various events put on by Bentley’s Cronin Office of International Education. Attending campus tours of the library, the Trading Room, classrooms and other centers brought me closer to campus —just by being more familiar with my surroundings. Eventually, my days started rolling with classes and I got busy with assignment deadlines and course readings. The first year is full of outside the classroom activities like the Great Gatsby Gala, Boston Duck Tours, all of which are outlets to de-stress from busy student life. In the winter, when snow fell on campus, I enjoyed some fun snow play with classmates — not something I can always do in India!
2. DIVING INTO CLASSES
My economics, finance classes and Wall Street Journal article-analysis sessions paved the way for me to learn business knowledge while improving my critical-thinking abilities. One class in particular, “Strategic Information Technology (IT) Alignment,” enhanced my understanding of IT in business contexts and the “Leading Responsibly” course improved leadership traits with group activities.
3. GETTING INVOLVED OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM
I started getting emails from various student organizations asking me to join and participate in technical events, workshops and student organizations. I joined the Bentley Analytics Society and Graduate Management Organization to help fellow students meet people from business world improve their networking and share our professional IT work experience. Through these organizations, I improved my soft skills, met new friends and learned to work in teams.
4. TAKING ADVANTAGE OF CAREER SERVICES
By attending Graduate Career Services (GCS) career workshops, I mastered the job-hunting process, giving me an edge when interviewing for a job. The workshops allowed me to hone my skills to suit job changing needs. The people at GCS listened to my problems and provided specific suggestions, helping me change my approach to the early stages of a job interview. Also, Bentley academic advisers helped me choose courses that were relevant to my long-term goals and vision.
5. NETWORK, NETWORK, NETWORK
With the help of one of my professors, I got the great opportunity to attend and volunteer for an Open Data Science conference at Boston. It helped me meet innovative data scientists and get to know new technologies in the field. Meeting professionals at networking events, and attending meetups in Boston and Cambridge made me more aware of American corporate culture and relevant job opportunities and helped me to get into my desired summer job to implement classroom learnings to real-time situations.
6. PUTTING MY EDUCATION INTO PRACTICE
There’s plenty to learn in graduate school, both in and out of the classroom. I got an internship as an analyst a financial tech startup. There, I learned how to perform statistical analysis in choosing company stocks and diversification of portfolios. Corporate finance and investment courses in my first year quickly taught me the financial jargon and application of theoretical knowledge needed to understand business requirements.
During the summer, I worked on the financial planning of retirement savings, comparison of mutual funds, and auto industry stocks analysis to develop portfolios for clients. My experience with case studies and group projects helped me a lot in my role analyzing the financial statements and asset portfolios of clients. Working on Bloomberg Terminals and FactSet software at the Trading Room helped me to monitor real-time stock market data and assess risks in different assets. I learned the business process to model the assets and get returns above the industry average.