Goa institute of Management (GIM) was a dream, a happy dream. I vividly remember the moment when I got the admission call. I recall being in a state of bliss….
I adore the book “The 7 habits of highly effective people” by Stephen R Covey. The second habit there is “Begin with the end in mind”. Before landing here at GIM, I did think about the “end”. For sure at the end of 2 years, I wanted to have a healthy mix of academic and industrial insights along with getting a good set of friends with whom I could discuss professional and personal challenges.
With these objectives, I landed on 15th June 2014 at GIM Sanquelim campus. It was love at first sight. I was amazed by the beautiful campus. After a long time, we inhaled pristine air. The other thing which struck me was the library. It was filled with the type of books I have always liked. 16th June 2014, our induction programme started with ice breaking sessions. It felt special to be sitting in a campus with students from more than 20 states. The diversity at display was amazing. I distinctly remember the first time when I looked around in the cafeteria and marvelled at the number of different languages being spoken around me.
The first trimester was hectic. We were still figuring out the systems, procedures and at the same time getting to know each other. Most of us had not seen the heavy rainfall which is a characteristic of Goa. However not once did we get the time to watch the rains. On the contrary, we were running helter-skelter trying to complete our assignment with 11 59 PM being the most hated time of the day. WhatsApp changed from just being a chat destination to being a study destination as many groups for various courses were formed. Continuous evaluation was a major challenge. It meant we had to be attentive in the class and be prepared for surprise quizzes. The positive thing was some student or the other took the trouble of helping the batch by organising tutorial classes. Finance, economics and statistics tutorial classes were a rage, with every inch of classroom or the common room full of students eager to learn.
Second and the third trimester were way better than the first trimester. Working in different groups helped us know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. So group formation became a bit easier. This improved the efficiency and effectiveness of the groups which improved the quality of assignments. In the process got some friends for life who were the antidote to stress.
“Give goa” Thursdays were a welcome distraction as we got to connect to the socially and economically challenged part of society. Our group had to train the High school teachers of Government High School Morlem in using computers (especially MS Office) so that the pedagogy became more effective. This assignment was very fulfilling and we became better human beings at the end of it.
GIM also has one of the highest number of student driven clubs. They do a wonderful job of organising national level events. This keeps the campus buzzing throughout the year. Our true mettle got tested in these events. It also helped in networking with management students across campuses.
Second year was all about gathering the necessary skills to get ready for the corporate life. Weekdays and weekends merged as we had classes from 7 15 am to 11 pm including Saturdays and Sundays. We got used to it after a while and found our own ways to find time for fun and frolic.
In the mean-time got selected as the class representative in the first year. Also was the class representative for a lot of electives in the second year. There were always deadline issues as the students wanted professors to be a bit lenient. On the contrary, the faculty were very strict about the academic rigour. The proximity with the Professors and the PGP office (administration cell) helped me see any issue from three angles namely the students’ perspective, professors’ perspective and the administration’s perspective. This helped immensely in finding out solutions for challenges which invariably cropped up.
I had a conversation with Father Romuald D’Souza in Alumni meet of 2014 who always believed in working for a noble cause. He advised me to master one skill or philosophy at a time. Never thought that I would receive a gold medal named after him. On the convocation day of 26th March 2016, my name was called out for “Fr Romuald D’Souza Best Student of the year”. GIM journey started with bliss and ended with complete ecstasy…