Darden admission event and my rants about the little small things in life and the big impact

This is a long pending post about my experiences about Darden admission reception at Bangalore. I would like to dedicate this post to few people who inspired me to write this post. The two Bangalore auto drivers who made sure I attended the event and the Dean at Darden school of Business, Mr Bob Bruner. Read on to know why.

I have always felt a liking towards Darden school and culture. I have a personal liking towards the Darden admissions director Sara Neher, specially so after watching her video blogs. I had also heard a lot about the Dean Bruner.I got a chance to meet him in person and it all started when I got the mail about Darden admission reception at Bangalore in September. I was thrilled to learn that Dean himself will be present at the event and I registered immediately.

Comes the admission event day and things were far from being perfect. Work was hectic as usual and it was pouring heavily in Bangalore. When I finally finished my work and came out of office to go home, it was raining cats and dogs and I had no option but to drive back home on my bike in that heavy rain. After that crazy experience I decided to play safe and take an auto to venue instead. Then started the usual scene of Auto driver tantrums. In Bangalore auto drivers have the bad reputation of being snobbish and not people friendly. One should reach out for a minimum 5 auto drivers before they agree to drop you to your destination. And things get worse if its night and topped up with heavy rains. After 10 minutes of a failed auto hunt, I was getting impatient to stand on the road in the rain. Finally one auto driver agreed to drop me to my venue that too at the normal price (God bless him). I don't remember his name or face but I can never forget his sense of duty and honesty. If at all I get into Darden, he will have his share in it..

I reached the venue bit late and found that people have already reached. The setup was very warm and informal and we had Dean Bruner, Asst director of admissions Sandy and alumni Jatin representing Darden. All of them were very friendly and open to all our questions. I was just waiting to meet dean Bruner who was having a chat with few other aspirants and I joined the group. It was the 1st time I was meeting the Dean of some top Business school. He was very warm and friendly and introduced himself to me. That friendly gesture helped me open up and I had some great time chatting with him about my questions about MBA and Darden. I asked questions about University of Virginia campus, First coffee at Darden and learning teams. And the answers he gave was detailed and perfect. He vividly explained his thoughts and each of his answers were reconfirming my fit for Darden. I never expected to have such a friendly conversation with The Dean himself. This is something I will cherish in my memories.

I can't wait to apply to Darden and I have moved back Darden to round 1. I have done enough of research and am confident about putting my best foot forward in round 1 itself. I have always felt that fit for this school and I hope I will get a admit. I hope to meet Dean Bruner again in first coffee. (Addition to my dreams list)

And it was the same experiece while going back home : it was still raining heavily and auto drivers were still refusing to come or asking exorbitant money. But again I met one more honest auto guy who safely dropped me back home. These are the kind of people who command very high respect from me. 

So what was my take away from this experience

• A chance to meet and interact with Dean. A lesson that a person can still remain friendly and down to earth even after achieving great things in life. 
• The profession can not decide the worth of a person but the passion and honesty about the profession is what makes one respectable. 
• The actual strength lies in lasting that extra mile while backing out at any moment might mean that you just missed reaching your goal. If only I had decided to go back home after failing to get an auto for long time, I would have missed the whole new experience.
  

That day I met 3 persons who were just the kind of persons I love to meet ; honest and passionate about what they do. Dean Bruner and 2 auto guys. This post is for you guys.. You guys rock !!

--

Madz