This post has been due for some time now. Last couple of weeks had been very hectic as I am in the process of winding up in my current role in Melbourne and moving to India for a short break before I join LBS in Jan 2014.
While I am eagerly looking forward to get started on Sloan Programme in January, I got this wonderful opportunity to attend the worldwide alumni celebrations in Melbourne last month as a prospective student (Thanks to our admission manager who connected me with a Sloan alumnus in Melbourne.)
It was a gathering of about 25 alumni from across the programmes in Melbourne. It was a very well organised event in a grand setting yet intimate at Tasma Terrace, a heritage building in Melbourne.
I was impressed with the diversity of the alumni: members included very senior people who graduated even before I was born and leading corporations to the most recent graduates.
I received a warm welcome from all of the alumni even as a prospective student. They shared several anecdotes of their good times in LBS. More importantly they provided valuable advise on various topics like accommodation, clubs, school events, study groups etc.
Coming to Sloan Alumni, I met two of them who graduated about 10 years back. One of them is playing a leadership role in one of the universities in Melbourne and the other is in the process of setting up his own venture. Both of them did emphasise that there is as much learning from peers as from faculty in the Sloan Programme given the quality of class profile.
The event was also open to partners and I am glad that I took my wife to the event. She had the opportunity to interact with other partners and got some good tips on living in London. She is more relieved now and looking forward to moving to London along with our 6-month-old baby. Here is what she told me after the event – ‘everyone I interacted with told that the time spent at LBS is one of the best times of their life. This is something to look forward to.’
It was a fun filled evening with some drinks and a lucky draw. As a prospective student, I had the privilege of doing the lucky draw with some LBS merchandise as prizes. I noticed that most of us did not carry business cards when we were collecting them for the lucky draw. We debated a bit on the role of business cards in this digital age and if they are going to get obsolete in a few years from now. By the way, I was handed over LBS branded business card holder case as a gift :-). I have the tendency to keep business cards in my laptop bag, I should make it a point to carry a few in my new case going forward.
I am really looking forward to the eventful year at LBS.
Sloan Masters in Leadership & Strategy @London Business School 