My experience at Thiagarajar School of Management has been amazing & enriching, says Vignesh B

By: Vignesh B

Finally, I decided in favour of it. I registered for the CAT exam and started my own preparation. I bought some books online and prepared for the exam on my own. I appeared for CAT but I was not satisfied with my attempt. Waiting for another year was not a feasible option.

My journey at school was memorable. Literally no one cherishes it until its gone. I did my schooling completely at Kendriya Vidyalaya. I had scored 9.6 CGPA at my 10^th board exams. Unlike others, I had no dilemma of choosing my course of study for the next two years. I clearly conveyed my decision of opting Commerce over other streams to my parents and they readily agreed. I’m grateful for all their support in every dimension. I had scored 95.2% in my CBSE 12^th board exams. I wanted to join B.Com and pursue any professional course alongside.

Despite my merit, I faced difficulties during my UG admission because the CBSE results were delayed as usual. By the time the results were out, many seats were filled. But still, I was determined to join the best college for commerce in my locality and I joined The American College, Madurai. The college had a great faculty team and ambience for learning. It moulded me into a balanced individual by imparting the right amount of knowledge and field exposure needed for growth. During my final year, I thought of doing MBA alongside my professional course, CMA after my UG. I started exploring all resources. Shiksha helped me a lot in this direction. I landed at Thiagarajar School of Management, Madurai for my management education. 

I started researching about MBA career during my final year at UG. I gathered information from my seniors and spoke to my mentors about my decision. I gained varied perspectives from each of them. Finally, I decided in favour of it. I registered for the CAT exam and started my own preparation. I bought some books online and prepared for the exam on my own. Since I was from a non-Mathematics background, I always used to get puzzled with the quants questions. I appeared for CAT but I was not satisfied with my attempt. Waiting for another year was not a feasible option. So I gave a try at AIMA-MAT during December.

 

I scored nearly 80 percentile but was still unsatisfied as I believed I could improve further. So I appeared again for MAT in February. I put in greater efforts this time and it paid off. I scored about 90 percentile this time. I also gave an attempt at TANCET conducted by the Tamil Nadu Government for admission to MBA and MCA courses with my preparation for MAT. I had secured 93 percentile at TANCET. I went for admission to Thiagarajar School of Management (TSM). The staff was cordial and insightful. After a week, I received my offer letter from TSM. I was so happy. I had applied to a few other institutes as well on the advice of my parents but I always wished for learning at TSM.

The current COVID crisis has really posed a challenge to effective teaching-learning experience. It has hampered every activity in all spheres. Since my school days, I was fascinated with accounting and finance. This was a driving factor behind my decision of choosing Commerce at UG. I also went on to pursue the Cost and Management (CMA) programme from the Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICAI). During my UG, I was exposed to many conferences, fests & events at college. I also developed an interest in management and administration. I got an opportunity to serve as the Joint Secretary and later Secretary for my department’s association. The association was a blend of faculty and students collectively responsible for organizing events on behalf of the department. In my tenure, I got to experience a completely different picture from traditional academics. I learnt to apply my knowledge to the activities that I was associated with.

It was a realistic and enriching experience. This experience instigated a desire in me to opt for management studies. I was also associated with the Board of Studies in my college. It is a department formed with the responsibility of restructuring the course curriculum from time to time as per the industry requirements. The department had intellectuals from various other colleges and fields. There were scholars, professors, university nominees and entrepreneurs. The interaction with them gave me better insights and in-depth understanding of the subjects taught. I used to play badminton in my school but I’m out of practice currently. I used to play tournament matches organized by the resident welfare association of my locality. If given a chance, I would like to revamp my skills at badminton and look out for any other sport also. Sports keeps us active and focused on all our daily activities.

About the Author:

Vignesh Balakrishnan is currently pursuing MBA from Thiagarajar School of Management, Madurai and has a passion for Finance. He is a commerce graduate from The American College, Madurai. He is also pursuing the Inter Programme of Cost and Management Accountant (CMA) from The Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICAI). He loves to read and explore new things. He has won awards for his academic proficiency and has organized several events both at school and college in various capacities.