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Living my Dream

As the sojourn of term 1 sets over my head, I stay surrounded by a host of unwelcoming course packs and case studies that do not interest me at the moment. The campus is abuzz with talks of the final exams and how they will be - will the professors be merciful or malicious? I find such questions redundant: the mid terms have passed and I have been humbled, I have no questions, for I seek no answers.

ISB is a dream I weaved way back in 2008, when I heard of it for the first time. The past one year of my life was dedicated to make the ISB dream come true for me. I am now living my dream, dear friends. Perhaps it is not in the way I wanted (I have no chance of being in the Dean's list, I have given up my hopes to stand for any elections) - yet, I remain hopeful and pursue this ISB dream with a vigor that I never knew I had.

The main reason I came to ISB, was personal growth (believe it or not!). I was tired of being the person who I was and wanted to give myself a fair chance at reinventing myself. Whether I will succeed or not is an entirely different story - all I care about right now, is to just live the moment, stand by the window of my Quad and see the world from an entirely different perspective.

I look back on the number of 08 Lounge parties in my belt, the professors, whose lectures I have thoroughly enjoyed and the initiatives that I want to take - it has been a month, but a lifetime at the same time. I faintly remember my life in Delhi, a soft memory of days gone by, days with which I don't completely identify.

My life before ISB was staid and boring - coming from a consulting/business research background, I felt I had far outrun my growth. I had become too ambitious and I wanted something big and magnificent to relocate my Joie De Vivre. And then, ISB happened.
I came here, shy, introverted, academic and uptight. One month in and I am broken down and on the path to being rebuilt. I have already begun to rediscover new aspects of my personality - not just who I am, but who I am capable of being. I look around and see myriads of people, just going ablaze with what they want to achieve. Have I lost the spark? Have I given up my dreams and aspirations? Have I become a nobody in a crowd of 570 brilliant people?

Honestly, I do not know. Yet, all I know is that this year will never come back. I will never have the chance of rising from the ashes of who I was ever again. One month into the grind and I am already someone I never knew I could be. And frankly my dear, I love it!

As I still nurse the buzz (we all know there are only 3 states of being at ISB - sober, drunk and dunked!) of last night's party, I come to the humbling conclusion, that I love being this new person. I am a work in progress and I love how it feels. I recount the number of friends I have made, the number of things I have learnt (if it is not MR=MC, then it is just not right) and the number of amazing influences I have begun to incorporate in my life. I am left dumb struck with a profound sense of joy - I have finally begun to discover the person I am.

I sit here, in the middle of a Student Village, still abuzz with life at 3 am. I look at my bed and realize that for better or for worse - I am here. I am here for the most beautiful, amazing and life changing year of my life. I will have my trials and tribulations, my victories and my defeats. I will know people, who will make me a part of their amazing ISB journey. I will make friends, who will take care of me when I am not well and who will support me when I am in doubt.  For the next 1 year (or whatever remains of these 11 months), I am ecstatic and optimistic. I will look upward with courage and onward with hope. For better or for worse, I am home.

- Ketan Kapoor, Class of 2013