“What an MBA at John Hopkins Carey Business School Taught Me” – Personal Experiences of a Student
Author: Yuvaksh Thukral
Johns Hopkins University – Carey Business School
Paulo Coehlo and My Thinking Pajamas Got Me the Answer to Life’s Tough Questions!
It was 10 PM; the clock was gazing at me as I was working to complete a critical client requirement and suddenly something struck my mind. I don’t know what it was, maybe late-night caffeine, but my brain went into a super-thinking mode. All sorts of weird questions started to pop in my head: What am I doing here? Do I like my job? What does my future hold for me? At that moment, the whole world stopped for me. After 5 minutes, I realized I need to complete the assignment by tonight. I completed my work and left around midnight, dropped an email to my manager that I won’t be in for the next two days. I took off from work, slipped into my thinking pajamas (I know most people have hats, but I have a thinking pajama!) and went into an introspection mode.
For the next two days, I was inside my room just trying to answer the questions that left me bewildered that night at the office. What do I want? I started reading my favorite book The Pilgrimage by Paulo Coelho. (Whenever I am in any confusion, I read this book, and blurry vision starts transforming into a clear picture.) I realized I want to give more meaning to my life. I am an engineer by qualification, but like devising strategies and thinking about business from a holistic view. I like to solve puzzles, bring in the logic to solve complex problems in a way that can add more values to the business.
I decided to take the next step; I was curious to know what I should do? I turned to the people I trust most, my mentors and friends. Fortunately, a few of my mentors were doing what they wanted to do, and it was a very unconventional; some were doing marketing and advertising after an engineering degree, and someone became a thought leader after working in investment banking. They were able to figure out a solution to this complicated problem. While I consulted these people, I also did a whole lot of research by myself which helped me discover my true purpose for bridging the gap between consumers and product developers, specifically in technology. I decided to become someone who can help businesses realize the true potential of technology. I wanted to leverage my empathic nature to find what consumers want and how they feel. “Human-centric approach to problem-solving,” that’s what I wanted to do.
After realizing why and what, the next step was to answer how? I reached out to industry leaders who are doing what I want to do and asked them the answer. It was not difficult to find that I need to learn new things and pursue an MBA.
The Mind-Blowing Experiences at Carey Business School. How I Fell in Love!
My class at Carey has 51% international students from all around the world. For me, it was like coming out of a shell and realize how to work with people from different cultures to achieve a common goal. Imagine, an Indian working with a Chinese team for a South American client. Experiences such as these have made me think about strategies and impact from a global perspective. I have learned how the same thing can be perceived differently in different cultures.
Another thing that I appreciate at Carey is the culture of never giving up and trying different things. As a student leader for Innovation Factory, a student-led organization, I have always had the perfect balance of support from staff and creative freedom to try something new. I have grown not as a manager or a boss rather as a leader and a team player.
Carey Business School is located at one of the best locations in Baltimore, right by the harbor and from the top floor, you can have a mesmerizing view of the Baltimore City. If I were to change something at Carey, I would move the business school building within the main university campus. I know, we would have to give up the harbor view, but then students at Carey can be more engaged with the other Hopkins schools.
My last piece of advice for the prospective MBAs – Always have a mentor that you can rely on and explore yourself before you explore your next career.
About Yuvaksh:
Yuvaksh is a GMBA’19 student at Johns Hopkins Carey Business School, specializing in Marketing and Business Analytics. He is currently working as a consultant for a start-up, VEOS360, devising its go-to-market strategies. He also led the launch of a beta platform for VEOS360. As an international strategy intern for Canopy Inc., he helped the company find the next best market for product launch and solve the problem of seasonal revenue dip. Prior to pursuing MBA, Yuvaksh worked as a Product Developer – R&D for Infosys Ltd for four years.
