The MBA Student Voice

72 hours to go!

After having waitied 8 long months since January '11, when I received my acceptance phone call from UCLA Anderson, I have another 72 hours to go before I'm on a plane to Los Angeles! I am literally JOTBWE (Jumping On The Bed With Excitement)!

With just 3 days to go, I've pretty much got my bases covered:

• Visa: My US F1 visa was a tough one to get! Every year, a random group of student applicants get selected for Additional Administrative Processing, which essentially means that the Visa process will take 2-3 months instead of 2-3 days. Well, lucky me, I was randomly selected for the honour of being a part of this procedure! So, despite applying early for the visa (late May), I received my visa this past Monday! Was it worth the wait, tension, anxiety and hair loss? Absolutely.

• Los Angeles: After careful consideration, I've decided on 4 different books on LA and Southern California, one of them called "Los Angeles and Disneyland for Dummies". After reading the material, identifying relevant content and analysing the data, I realize that LA is spectacular!

• Pre-Orientation Tutorials & Reading: I have never done accounting before. The only times I hear the words "Credit" and "Debit" are where they precede the word "Card". Therefore, to get in the groove I decided to start really early with the tutorial. With a the help of fellow UCLA Anderson '13 classmate, Anant Rishi, I think the I've made a lot of progress, even though I'm sure there's a long way to go. As for the reading material, I'm happy to announce that I printed all the pdf files this morning.

• Packing: Ah! This is a tough one. Life would be so much easier if we could hire an agency to pack our bags for us! (Wait, did I just think of an entrepreneurial venture?) Stuffing my entire life into 2 suitcases is very hard. As of today, my bags weigh 79kg. The allowed airline limit is 46kg.

To sum up, barring a few minor things that need some attention, I'm good to to make my way to LA! Looking forward to meeting everone in LA! :)

 - Karan Kumar, MBA '13

Saying Goodbye To My Kids

First of all, just to clarify, I don't have kids of my own. Now, let's continue.

I've been working at the LEU Foundation NGO for 3 years now and with closer and closer involvement with the children at the foundation, they've become a part of my everyday existence. And now comes the time to say goodbye to them.

* taking the junior class kids out for a movie

This past Wednesday was my last visit to the school where the children are taught. I tried to explain to them where Los Angeles was on the map, but they couldn't seem to get the concept of anything beyond New Delhi! I also explained that I was going to study for the next two years and one of the kids actually asked, "You have already studied so much. Are you going to start from Nursery again?"

There's a lot that we can do for economically marginalized families. At UCLA Anderson I'm looking forward to the Challenge for Charity (C4C) and I'm very appreciative of the fact that the money raised through this event goes to some excellent voluntary groups that support underprivileged sections of society!

 - Karan Kumar, MBA '13

Baseball vs. Cricket!

Only a few days ago, I bought a ticket to the Summer Dodger Game. I'm already excited about catching the action at Dodger Stadium in a little less than a month from now! However, I do face one small, teeny-tiny challenge: I've never seen or even heard anything related to baseball in my entire life.

  Coming from India, baseball is as rare to come by as traffic-free roads in LA. That said, baseball does have a half-brother that we adore in India: Cricket! 

In my last job, while serving an American client, I decide to educate the folks across the seas on cricket and, in turn, learn something about baseball. Here's some of the stuff I managed to figure out:

	Cricket	Baseball *
Players	Batsman, Bowler, Fielder	Batter, Pitcher, Catcher
Scoring	1 run each time 2 batsmen switch places (no limit), 4 runs when hit ball bounces out beyond ropes, 6 runs when it goes out without bouncing	1 run each time a batter covers all 4 bases, Home Run when a hit ball goes out of the ground without bouncing
Team Size	11 players in each team	9 players in each team
Match Size	1 inning, 10 players out	9 innings, 3 players out
Durations	20-20 (3-4 hours), One Day, Five Days	~3 hours
Popularity	104 nations	117 nations
World Cup/Series	14 nations	USA & Canada, so I hear :)

* The author does not take any responsibility for any incorrect facts on Baseball. After all, he doesn't have a clue.

 

Here's another difference: the shape of the field and the position of fielders/catchers.

In cricket, bowlers bowl 6 balls from one end of the pitch to the batsman standing on the other side of the pitch. Once 6 deliveries are done, a new bowler delivers the next 6 balls, but this time from the opposite end of the pitch from where the previous bowler was bowling. The batsmen do not switch ends.

In baseball, pitchers need to stay stationary within their “box” while pitching. A single pitcher starts the game and makes every pitch until the coach replaces the tiring pitcher with the relief pitcher. A pitcher (or any other player) removed from the game (as opposed to being shifted to another position) cannot re-enter the game.

For batting in cricket, a flat wooden bat is used. A batsman hits the ball once it is bowled in Cricket and runs towards the opposite end where the other batsman is. They both switch ends and this constitutes one run. When the batsman hits the ball along the ground and it crosses the boundary, it is considered four runs while a ball crossing the boundary whilst in the air is six runs.

In Baseball, starting at Home Plate, each batter attempts to run counterclockwise to the next base of the diamond, continuing on to each following base in order, and finally returning to home, whereupon a run is scored. Often a player will reach a base but be forced to stop there. On subsequent plays the player may continue to advance. If the ball is hit over the outfield and exits the field there, it’s a Home Run. 

* On the left are the front, back and side views of a cricket bat. On the right is a baseball bat. As a baseball bat is completely round, it doesn't make sense to show it from three different angles.

For me, this is a lot to start with! After all this research I’m ready for the Dodgers Game!

Existing and incoming Anderson students wanting to buy tickets can check out this site: https://www.wepay.com/xymp9j/tickets/AndersonC4CDodgerGame

Go Dodgers! .. umm, right? :)

- Karan, MBA '13

Lunch with a UCLA Anderson Alum

For a while now I've been wanting to get in touch with UCLA Anderson alumni in New Delhi itself. This past weekend 3 fellow MBA '13 admits and I finally caught up with Anshul Debuka, MBA '11 for lunch as he told a wondrous tale of his time at UCLA Anderson.

His experience was great. Talking to him made us realize exactly what we were getting into. He told us about what we could expect in our first 6 months (sounded grueling!) and what we needed to do to get to where we want to be post-MBA. He talked about the collaborative culture at Anderson and the fact that we could expect to have 360 great friends from school by the time we graduate!

Topics that came up were classes and electives, internships, recruitments, networking, Parker CMC, Weyburn Terrace, food joints, cars, Hollywood, beaches and Vegas.

Also, interestingly, he mentioned "fun" at least 30 times in 2 hours.

<unfortunately, at this time, none of us were carrying cameras, so try to imagine 4 happy MBA '13 admits, full of promise, and an MBA '11 alum with an air of accomplishment and satisfaction!>

"It'll be the best 2 years of your life!" he said as we parted post lunch. Looking forward to it!

 - Karan Kumar, MBA '13

Things that "Wowed" me at UCLA Anderson

Earlier as an MBA applicant, and now as an admitted student, I've come to learn about the amazing things that have been happening at UCLA Anderson. In my opinion, while every business school can teach Marketing and Finance, it's these little (or impressively big!) things that really make the difference. Here's a snapshot of the things that have "Wowed" me at UCLA Anderson:

 

Sheryl Sandberg (COO of Facebook) delivers the commencement address to the UCLA Anderson Class of 2011: Ever wondered how you would react when one of the most charasmatic and powerful women of our time addressed you? Sheryl's address was not only inspiring to the Class of 2011 but also gives future Anderson MBA applicants and students courage to put their faith in the school!

 

Brand new, industry-relevant MBA curriculum: The MBA Class of 2013 is the first batch to receive a fantastic new curriculum at UCLA Anderson. The curriculum is focussed on being relevant to industry expectations for everything from summer internships to well after after school. I am particularly looking forward to the Applied Management Research (AMR) Project! By sure to check out the video by Andrew Ainslie, Senior Associate Dean of the Full-Time MBA Program.

 

$25m gift from John E. and Marion Anderson: "Wow" doesn't begin to describe my immediate reaction to this act of benevolence. The gift, the largest in the school's 75-year history, will encourge innovative academic programs, student support and faculty research. John E. Anderson is the person after whom the school has been named since 1987.

 

Sustainability Honor: Now here's something I truly believe in and I'm excited that the Leaders in Sustainibility Certificate at UCLA Anderson is regarded highly enough to have won the Dr. Alfred N. and Lynn Manos Page Prize for Sustainability Issues in Business Curricula 2010 Grand Prize. Cudos to Dr. Charles J. Corbett and Dr. Magali Delmas!

 

Challenge for Charity (C4C) Golden Briefcase: UCLA Anderson’s Challenge for Charity (C4C) is the largest charitable organization at the Anderson School of Management. Last year, Anderson C4C raised $100,000 and volunteered over 5,000 hours for its three select charities: Special Olympics, Junior Achievement, and Project ECHO. Also, it has won the C4C Golden Briefcase 3 years in a row! Wow!

 

Leaders on Leadership: Leadership is best described by those who have been there and done that. And that's what these leaders are doing! Leaders on Leadership is a podcast series that will carry on through the summer and will feature leaders such as Bob Iger, Larry King and Mitch Kupchak (MBA '87). Stay tuned to hear what they have to say!

 

After all this it's hard to not want to get started with the Anderson program right away! Wow!

- Karan Kumar, MBA '13

Leap of Faith: An introduction

"If you dream big, you play big. If you play big, you win big."

In my experience, optimism is the best medicine. Optimism is a great gimzo to pack away those blues, negotiate your problems differently and look at your life in a whole different way. Also, it's contagious!

While I can't say that I'm an optimist every day of the year, I can say that my admission to UCLA Anderson has taken my Optimism Quotient to a whole new level. UCLA Anderson has a reputation of delivering on creativity, research, collaboration and practical training that I simply adore.

Coming from a technical background of numbers and analytical models, my decision to take up a program on business and management has been any easy one. The opportunity to learn about business practices from some of the best professors and thought leaders in their respective fields is something I'm looking forward to.

"a plan is a plan until it is executed"

I enjoy contributing to things I believe in. In the Social Work space I've been working with a small but diligent NGO on everything from teaching underpriviledged children Math to raising funds through fundraisers and other social events. Also, I've been a Toastmaster for three years and have just completed my one year stint as President of my club.

Once at Anderson, if not in the classroom, you can find me at the UCLA Recreation Center swimming pool or perhaps with some fellow amateur musicians, jamming on my guitar to Porcupine Tree or Tool!

That said, Los Angeles is halfway around the world from home. Will it be easy to remove myself from everything I know and love? Will it be easy to embibe a totally new and different culture and adapt to a way of life? I'm not sure I know how to even begin with this. What I do know is that the Anderson family is waiting for me and I can't wait to find out what's in store for me over the next two years!

- Karan Kumar, MBA '13