My Winter Break: A Trip to Sri Lanka
Post by:
Ajay Mehta
MBA 2011
As I’m sure you’ve heard from every school you’re applying to, or every MBA graduate you may have spoken to, much of getting an MBA is about networking and meeting your classmates and other professionals. Part of that experience encompasses learning from the extremely diverse group of students that attend SMG from abroad, as well as the opportunities you have to travel with the school and with your peers. I saw this first hand this past winter break as second years seemed to disperse all over the world. From classmates hiking the Inca Trail, skiing in Argentina, or attending the Indian Field Seminar, you could see the how students were utilizing one of the last times in their professional careers that they will have a winter break.
For my winter break, I visited Sri Lanka with one of my classmates staying with his parents and touring around the country, taking in the sites and culture. It was a beautiful country but as we both took in the sites we realized that business school had a tremendous impact on how we viewed the world and ways of life. We noticed industries which we were were interested in, or companies which had headquarters in Colombo where he was interested working. We also found ourselves analyzing the daily way of life and how people prioritized their budgets. In many ways we tried to understand what made their economy move forward and how the kegs of beer we purchased were helping support Sri Lankans.
Business school allowed me to really look at different situations from a angles I might have ignored before. Going through classes and working on teams with people from all over the world helped me strategize and understand why certain aspects of business were more or less important to them. Visiting a country like Sri Lanka reinforced this fact and allowed me to experience a different culture and world with one of my classmates and good friends.
