Last week, Fridays from the Frontline featured the first-year experience of recent Booth graduate Monisha Shivakumar. Now, we continue along the rest of her business school path, from a summer internship through graduation.
The following piece has been republished in its entirety from its original source, the Booth Experience Blog.
My MBA Timeline: Year 2
by Monisha Shivakumar (Booth ’19)
While technically the summer internship is a part of the first-year experience, I saw it as a way to kickstart my second year at Booth. Picking up where my first year timeline left off, read along to hear about how my second year has progressed and what I’m planning to do after graduation.
Summer Internship: Leaving Chicago and heading to Seattle for my summer internship would have been a scary move if it wasn’t for the big community of Boothies who went there with me. My summer internship gave me the chance to explore a new city and try out a new career in technology. But what made the experience special for me was getting to know a few of my classmates in a brand-new capacity by interacting with them outside of a school environment. My summer gave me a new appreciation for business school and the strong community it provides well beyond these two years.
Fall Quarter- Second Year: Fresh off post-internship travels with fellow Boothies, I jumped into fall quarter with a focus on academics by taking some of the most challenging courses offered at Booth. Taking classes like Commercializing Innovation where I worked closely with my group to value startups from the perspective of a Venture Capital Fund taught me a completely new skillset. Beyond my classes, I also spent time perpetuating the pay-it-forward culture at Booth by helping first year students through their recruiting process.
Winter Quarter- Second Year: With my time in business school rapidly depleting, in my winter quarter I chose to focus on strengthening the relationships I had built in school thus far. One way I did this is by participating in Booth Insights, a series of small group discussions where we talk about topics like our life stories, family and value sets. I also chose to flex my creative (and actual!) muscles by training with other members of the Booth Dance Club to participate in the IESE Spring Games Dance Competition (where we took second place!).
Spring Quarter- Second Year: The end is near! Heading into my last quarter I (thankfully) felt like I had accomplished much of what I had come to Booth to achieve. I had pivoted to a new career, taken some of the most interesting and challenging courses offered, and built close friendships with my classmates. To cap off my experience I chose to spend this quarter with the theme of reflection in order to help me fully appreciate what I had gained during my time at school and understand what I wanted my future intentions to be. One arena that empowered me to do this was the Leadership Vision Retreat. During this weekend away, I reflected on my transition from work to business school, the ways in which I have changed at Booth and the vision I have for my life moving forward.
Continuing on as an Alumna: While business school has come to an end, I know being a Boothie is an experience that lasts a lifetime. Coming into Booth, I had an idea of what my life would look like but I never could have predicted the ways in which it would change me as a person. From being more comfortable with taking risks, to gaining a new layer of self-awareness, each quarter at Booth has greatly impacted me in its own unique way. For this reason, I know that the people I’ve met, the experiences I’ve had and the lessons I’ve learned will continue on with me well beyond graduation. This is only the start of that next chapter.
