South Africa Internship @ Mr Price!!!

I just received a mail from Mr Price Group in South Africa, detailing the projects that I will be working on this summer. Technically it will be winter in South Africa so I am in two minds as to whether it should be called my summer or winter internship. But, I know for sure that it is going to be a great 10 weeks starting tomorrow.

Our MBA curricular requires students to complete an summer internship or a study abroad. Students can look up for internship opportunities in their desired field from career link which lists internship as well job opportunities. At Walton, our internship search starts from the moment we join the spring classes.We have attended sessions for interview preparation, resume writing and even dressing etiquette which have considerably improved our interview skills. I can definitely say that these sessions have helped me prepare well enough to be selected for this internship. Most of the students who had been working in companies last semester are continuing their internship in the same company.This year my classmates are working with Kelloggs, Land O'lakes, Tyson foods, Fedex, Saatchi and Saatchi X, Cameron, Tracphone and the list continues. Some students from my class are visiting Ghana, Germany and China for their study abroad and I am waiting anxiously, for next semester, to hear their experiences.

Mr Price - I can't wait to start my internship

I first heard of the Mr Price Internship opportunity in January during one of the early sessions with Dr Heather Sprandel, Director, Career Development Center. It sounded like a fantastic opportunity as the company promised a project related to the student's career path. Interested students then attended a Skype meeting with Karen and Justin of Mr Price Group. At the session we learnt more about the company and the internship. Mr Price Group is generous enough to arrange for lodging and transportation in South Africa.The interns get a stipend that is just for personal use. The university pays for our travel expense to South Africa. Overall it is a win-win situation. We then submitted a letter of interest and a few students were selected for Skype Interview.

I still recall the phone conversation I had with Heather informing me that I had been selected for the internship. I am sorry if I screamed too loud into the phone, but I was ecstatic. My classmate, Huaying Pu, will be accompanying me to Durban as we start our project in Supply Chain. And so the past two weeks I have been waiting anxiously for this day when I shall leave Fayetteville and gain my first corporate experience.

I can't wait to share my experiences and meet my friends next semester and learn more about their experiences. To all my classmates- HAVE A GREAT SUMMER.

2 parties and a Commencement Ceremony

Last week end was fun!!!!

On friday I attended the graduation party for  MBA class of 2012.The event was held at Mermaids, a seafood restaurant, in Fayetteville.The faculty at Walton did am amazing job in organizing the event.Senthil Raman, a Indian student from Chennai had invited a few of us to the event. The best part of the evening was when he informed us that he has an offer from Walmart. I wish him all the luck and success in life post the Walton MBA. Senthil had customized his career track at Walton, electing Finance and Entrepreneurship & Innovation. Students at Walton can choose from four career tracks - Finance, Marketing, Supply Chain and Entrepreneurship & Innovation. However, students are given the flexibity to customize their career track to their requirements.

The next day I attended his commencement ceremony at Barnhill Arena. It was a awesome feeling to see all the graduates in thier regalia step forward and receive their degrees from Dr Moez Limayem, Assosiate Dean for Graduate programs. I cheered my voice hoarse for my seniors. CONGRATULATIONS to everyone who graduated from Walton GSB.

Bird's eye view of the Commencement Ceremony at Barnhill Arena

Sethil and myself after the Commencement

Semester ending party "Walton Class of 2013 = AWESOME"

In my last blog I had talked about the party at Tammi's House. The party was a huge success. It was a well deserved break for the Class of 2013. Everyone let their hair down and had a blast. I cannot divulge the details. Let me just say the Walton MBA class of 2013 knows how to party. Tammi was an amzing host and we can't thank her enough for hosting the party.

And lastly I want to wish someone special in India - HAPPY MOTHERS DAY. I LOVE YOU MA.

Starting the Journey.

Finally I did it!!!!

 I set up my blog to talk about my experiences in Sam M Walton College of Business. Its seems like yesterday, that I received a mail from Rebel informing me that I had been admitted to the MBA class of 2013. My neighbors had heard my screaming at 1 am(IST) when I got the mail and, thought I had gone mad. Today I am done with my last exam and hence the first semester at Walton.

There are so many things that I want to write about. I don't know where to start. Well, let me start from Kolkata,India, where I was based while I was working as a merchant navy officer.  I had been sailing all around the world ,as a Second Officer on a oil tanker.Life was good but, I was looking for more stability. That was when I started thinking about MBA as a possible option. I knew that I wanted to specialize in Supply Chain, having been part of the link during sailing. And so after scouting for colleges specializing in Supply Chain. I chose Walton College of Business in Arkansas. The Supply Chain Department at Walton College is currently ranked 9th among public graduate business schools by U.S. News &World Report. And so after the application, a phone interview and lots of sleepless nights, my neighbors heard the scream that informed them that I was going for a Walton MBA.

January 4th 2012, is the day I reached Fayetteville.I knew that I had made the right decision the moment I stepped into Walker Hall and met the faculty and staff the first time. The first week was orientation week and by the time it was over all 47 students, from 6 countries, had become friends for life. In fact we are meeting tomorrow at a classmate's, Tammi Lippert, house to celebrate our completion of the semester. Tammi is also a MBA ambassador and you can read her blog http://mightymba.blogspot.com/ to learn more about the Walton MBA.

Walker Hall- Mba students spend most of the time here  attending classes, working in projects in one of  the state of the art study rooms, or just enjoying a bagel at Einstein Bros. 

Walton MBA Class of 2013 - We are the Best!!!

Working on my first ever case presentation during orientation- At Walton we don't waste time we get striaght down to business.

I have great experiences to share about the college. In this first semester, I got a chance, to visit Chicago to meet with employers at United Airlines and Saatchi & Saatchi X, to visit the distribution centers of Walmart and Amazon and been to head offices of P&G, J B Hunt and Walmart.The Career Center at Walton is a huge resource to help the students interact with  prospective employers.

There is a long long list of things that I am grateful to the college for. I shall be writing about each of them in future blogs as well as talking about my development and progress at Walton.

Spring is over, and this summer I shall be interning in South Africa , for Mr Price Group, and I am so excited. One year back if someone had told me that I would be interning at South Africa, meeting employers from the biggest retailers in the world and having a bunch of friends from 6 different countries, I wouldn't have believed them . But today I am living the life and enjoying it more that I imagined and looking forward to a bright future post MBA. And so reflecting on my past 4 months of my life all I can say is-
                                          "THANK YOU WALTON MBA"