Sunday, July 25

Kellogg Essay - 2 !!!!! Helpppppppppp

Essay #2


Describe your key leadership experiences and evaluate what leadership areas you hope to develop through your MBA experiences (600 word limit).

This essay is giving me a real tough time. 15 drafts later i still feel that my response to this essay SUCKSSS!!! I have interesting and impactful anecdotes to share but i am unable to narrate them in an effective manner.
 
I am feeling like a dumb who knows the taste of chocolate but can't explain it...and word limit is also not helping me in this case. I am over-shooting the word limit by well over 16%. I am sharing only 2 experiences and still not able to wrap up my response within the word limit. Someone please teach me the art of crisp writing....

Thursday, July 22

Booth application goes live today...

Another update...Booth application will go live later today....so finally the app season is heating up....:)

Long due updates

Long time since i posted on this blog. Firstly the back injury kept me out of the action then i went out with miss S and friends to a hill station for an excursion. For past few days i am practising Yoga in order to strengthen my back. At the same time i felt really lazy to work on my apps and a heart-quake that originated in my chest wreaked havoc on my brain. :)

Now, after a long time i am feeling good!!! Physically - 6/10, Mentally - 5.5/10 and Emotionally - 4/10 {Huh -- you call it good...15.5/30...pathetic... ;) }...

I am done with the first draft of my Kellogg essays. I have a self imposed deadline of Aug-15 to complete the Kellogg Essays. Post that i would start working with my recommendors. I must say that Kellogg's essays are the best to start the app process. They cover everything -- career progression, future goals, why MBA, why xx college, leadership traits, set-backs, uniqueness..

Essay - 1 -- career goal, why mba etc.. is coming out good and has started taking a nice shape. I am close to the word limit {3% out}...must have worked on 16 versions to come this far...

Essay - 2 -- leadership essay -- This one has taken up the maximum time. I had many stories from my life to highlight my leadership experiences and i shortlisted 4 examples. Then wrote many versions with different stories and after close to 10 versions i have freezed the theme for this essay. It is not at all coming out good, i have to make it a lot more crisp and work on How and Why part of the essay.

Essay - 3 -- student evaluator ques -- this one has shaped up well and i think it will take 2 revisions before its ready to be submitted

Essay - 4 --The best mistake I ever made was…….Well i have made zillions of mistakes during my stay of approx 900 million seconds on planet earth. Sharing majority of these mistakes would embarass me but i have few stories that were good learning platforms. Theme is freeZed the narrative needs to be worked on...

I am hopeful that by Aug-15 i would finish all 4 essays. When i looked at the essays of my other target schools {Ross, Fuqua, Booth} i was comfortable...working on Kellogg essays has already given me a platform to work on other essays. I know that i will have to put in equal amount of effort for other schools but my thinking would be much more structured...

thats all for now...

Monday, July 12

DUKE MBA Application is open...

Duke has opened its online MBA application for FT MBA. Sep -30 is EA deadline and Nov-1 is R-1. Also the details of Info-sessions have been posted on the site...

All the best to all the Duke applicants.

Wednesday, July 7

I hate luv storys -- Another chocolate brownie

Due to local elections my office was closed yesterday and i decided to watch the movie "I hate luv storys". As soon as i booked the tickets, my hunch told me to keep an analgesic with me to avoid the headache. Miss S was at her taunting best -- "You are a cold hearted person and wouldn't ever enjoy a romantic movie". The omens were not too good.

I started out late from home and bought "Disprin".

"Can't you speed up? we are going to miss the beginning" Miss S growled louder than my car's engine..

"Sweetie, don't worry they show a lot of ads in the beginning" i consoled her

As soon as i reached the mall, i realized that lifts and escalators were not working :'( .. Miss S and I rushed from basement 2 to 3r floor, trying to catch the movie's begining.

"I am going to the washroom..you please take the seat" my words bought out strange expressions on Miss S' face....i was still wondering about all these bad omens..

I hate luv storys is another flick in the category of "Love Aaj Kal", "Dil Chahta hai {dch}". {It doesn't match to the standards set by DCH but is based on the same theme}

Another story where a guy doesn't believe in love and is only interested in S**. Then heroine comes into picture and everything turns tipsy topsy.

PLOT: Scriptwriter added 30 gms of DCH, 25 grams of Love Aaj Kal, 2 TBSP of DDLJ and then blended them nicley using KJo blender. Finally the movie was boiled in a Aditya Chopra cooker and Garnished with  Dharma production leaves. Plot has nothing new but narrative is good.

Narrative: The plot has nothing new but the director has narrated this story in a wonderful manner. First half is really good, poking fun at romantic genre films, showing how often people mistake love for liking, revealing the mentality of guys and girls. Second half is a bit slow, direction is fine but editing could have been a lot better..Also i still wonder why don't hero and heroines use mobiles judiciously at the critical moments.. Why can't heroine SMS hero asking him not to board the flight and why in the f*** hero doesn't take imp. calls at the crucial moments??

Music: I burnt the music straight away to play in my car...Vishal and Shekhar have composed very good songs. The title track is jazzy, while sadga kiya, bin tere and bahara are situational, used well in narrative and obviously are ear candies {i don't know if there is a word called ear candy :) } My penchant for this album increased many folds after watching the movie

Casting: Out an out Imran Khan and Sonam Kapoor movie...Sameer Dattani -- Sonam's first choice was pathetic...i really don't understand who took his audition. Sonam Kapoor is looking too good and has played her part to perfection..way to go girl. Imran Khan is an average actor and had Ranbir Kapoor played the lead -- i would have just loved the movie...I don't know the name of actor who played the character of Kunal in the movie...He has got a good comic timing...watch out for him...

In nutshell, it's another butter chicken served with mouth watering garnishing. And yes i didn't had to use the Disprin....will keep it for some other flick :)

In my last post, i had mentioned that i will review the movie and share some tips to re-ignite passion in relationships. Movie has beautifully shown how often we create rules to lead our lives. These rules take the fizz out of the life. Living a disciplined life is not bad but making your life  a rule book is not a good idea. All the relationships have a spark in the begining but as responsibilities overshadow passion, love life starts taking a back seat. It's important to break rules every now and then to enjoy life. I am not advocating infidelty all i am saying is that you can go home after office and take your partner to a pub and get drunk. Its also kool to pack your bags and make an un-scheduled trip to some place. Key is not to become too predictable and not to get caged by useless rules...."Stop thinking about life...Start living it...Start Feeling it..."

Tuesday, July 6

Love vs Bungee Jumping !!!

"Fall in love with the same person again and again" -- I picked this line from somewhere and suggested this to a friend...
"It's easier said than done...what shall i do to re-invent the passion in my love life.." was the reply...

I thought hard about it...but am still clueless...Relationships once gone awry don't invoke the same feelings...Is there a way to re-ignite passion and sustain excitement in a relationship???? Then suddenly my mind started comparing falling in love to bungee jumping...


Falling in love and jumping from height -- both involve excitement and danger. Somehow god has wired my brain in such a manner that mere mention of "Love" or "Bungee Jumping" starts pumping adrenalin in my veins.
I am not sure whether it's love or the physcial attraction that makes the begining of a relationship so exciting and passionate. When i had fallen in love the world turned rosy by a shade of pink, a smile flashed on my face whenever i read her SMSes {i actually read and re-read them :), food tasted a lot better than ever before, reckless drivers didn't invoke anger...in sum, love/attraction made the world a lot better place to live in...

Those feelings are still fresh in my mind---- holding her hand for the first time...tasting the nectar from her lips... {am not describing intimate moments any further ;) } ...watching her smile...watching her innocent hazel eyes under the moon-lit sky....I would want to fall in love again and again.... :) ...

Love -- refers to a variety of different feelings, states, and attitudes, ranging from generic pleasure ("I loved that meal") to intense interpersonal attraction ("I love miss S"). {Source - wikipedia}



Bungee Jumping -- Bungee jumping (also spelled "Bungy" jumping) is an activity that involves jumping from a tall structure while connected to a large elastic cord. {Source - wikipedia}




Stepping on that board...checking the safety gear for one last time....heart beating extra fast ... breath trying to match the erratic pattern of  heart beat....that peculiar feeling in the feet....looking down, holding your fists..and..JUMP!!!!!!!!


So far so good!! Falling in love and jumping off that board is really fun...Once you have jumped and experienced the thrill, the re-bounds have sent jitters down your spine...Now what??? Now you simply hang in there for few moments...
If a condition is imposed that one will have to hang like this for months after each jump, would you be willing to dive?? I am sure not many people would want to experience the thrill in this case...how about jumping again and again?? Fun..isn't it...

Similarly, falling in love is exciting but if the couple doesn't re-invent their love from time to time...if they cannot sustain the passion that sparked off the relationship in the first place..then love becomes sort of boring...{Miss S -- am just expressing philosophy --don't take it personally}

But it's back to square one, "How to keep re-igniting the passion?" I was telling my friend "WHAT" but am unable to answer "HOW"...{Essays have influenced my thinking..WHAT, HOW etc..} ... Watched the movie "I hate Luv Storys" today...to be honest till now i always had to take an analgesic after watching the romantic movie...but this time it was different. In my next post - am going to review the movie and answer the HOW part...actually if possible watch the movie,..you will understand what i am sayin ...

Thursday, July 1

Leadership experience essay

I was thinking about Kellogg's essay on leadership experiences.

Essay #2


Describe your key leadership experiences and evaluate what leadership areas you hope to develop through your MBA experiences (600 word limit).

Word limit - 600, this means that one can share 2 and the most 3 experiences. I decided picking up 2 experiences. Now, a person can demonstrate leadership traits in various spheres of life aka "Professional", "Social-Service", "Extra Currics" etc. It's my personal opinion that one should include 1 experience from outside the professional life. Career assessment done in essay 1 will cover few leadership traits demonstrated in professional life. I chose 2 experiences - representing my efforts in professional and extra currics spheres.

Next, i started thinking about leadership in general and came across the following quote:


"Leaders don't wait. They shape their own frontiers. The bigger the challenge, the greater the opportunity."

I have highlighted few key words in the quote above. In absense of a challenge it's hard to demonstrate true leadership. "Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm but it requires a true leader to steer the ship in stromy seas"

List down all the success stories from your life and now sort them in descending order of the challenge that you faced in each of those incidents. Share the challenge that you faced...Show how you shaped the frontier {crafted the solution to the problem}, show the impact of your solution and don't forget to summarize the learnings from the incident...

Challenge -- Solution-Orientedness -- Impact -- Learning....

I believe any leadership experience essay can be answered while keeping in mind the above mentioned 4 key words....

Suggestions are most welcome!!!!