7 things that make Great Lakes an unforgettable experience

By Gajendra Singh Sisodia

The idea for this article took root when an important chapter of my life came to an end – the day when I graduated from Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai.

Everybody who asked me about my past one year at Great Lakes heard only glowing praise for the institute from me. Ecstatic as I was over the amazing experience I had at Great Lakes, deep down I wanted to understand the factors that contributed to this journey of transformation.

After some serious deliberation, head scratching and musing over a cup of hot filter coffee in pouring Chennai rain, I had a sudden epiphany. I realized the biggest factor for my fond memories of the institute – ‘My Gurus’.

Had I not received the guidance that I did from the faculty at Great Lakes Institute of Management, the whole journey would not have been the memorable one that it has been. As I nurse my filter coffee, a few other reasons come hurtling up from my memory.

I thought aspirants aiming to join Great Lakes could benefit from my experiences so I am capturing for you the 7 things you will remember forever from your time at Great Lakes.

Not just teachers, mentors

At the onset of this beautiful journey, I was not sure of what electives I was going to choose and was struggling to stay afloat in the flood of confusion one faces in a new environment. I decided I would let time decide for me.

However, the very first lecture of Marketing Management – not only opened up for me the specialization I should pursue, but also the path I should pursue in life.

Dr. Tapan Panda, Professor of marketing, introduced me to the world of marketing and gave wings to my creativity, thoughts and writing. The depth of learning hidden behind his subtle sense of humour really inspired me. He was much more than a teacher – he was a guide.

As a student at Great Lakes, I can promise you, you too will find your own mentor – someone who will push you not just to better grades, but to the best you can be.

Learning the importance of time

There were many teachers present on campus who captivated me by the sheer amount of energy they exuded. I came to realise that this energy was a direct result of their focus and the right use of time. These teachers taught us to how much can be achieved by simply channelizing our efforts in the right direction in a focused manner.

The concept is not very different from the focus Dronacharya taught Arjun in the Mahabharata – focusing purely on the target – the bird in the tree and blotting out every thing else.Except at Great lakes, the bird was assignments and presentations.

Our teachers played a great role in keeping us occupied and instilling in us an appreciation of the worth of each minute we spent at the institute. This is a lesson that will keep you in good stead even once you graduate and join work.

Worldclass faculty   

Our professors took the burden of traveling from all corners of the world to share their knowledge with us. Over the course of a year, I had the fortune and the honour of being taught by the ultimate authority on Conjoint Analysis, Prof. Seenu Srinivasan – Adams Distinguished Professor of Management, Emeritus of Stanford University and possibly the most gentle and down to earth person I have ever interacted with.

Prof. Narendra Rao, Professor of Finance at Northeastern Illinois University and Prof. Vaidy Jayaraman from the University of Miami are some other names that come to mind.

Great Lakes assembled for our learning some of the finest names in academia from both India and abroad.

Support at every step

We as a team were responsible for preparing our presentations, however whenever we needed it we went back to our professors for their guidance and views. We always received full support from them and at times that one big idea which made the difference in our presentation was the one suggested by them.

It was only a matter of displaying commitment to your work and reaching out to faculty – the rest took care of itself. The faculty supported and motivated us at every step – not just to do well in academics but to take part in extracurricular activities and excel in them too. Prof. TN Swaminathan, for instance, played a huge role in motivating us to take part in extracurricular activities and before we knew we had won many laurels for the institute and established new milestones in our own lives.

Stretch yourself, Find yourself 

Prof. Bala V. Balachandran, Fonder Dean of Great Lakes and  J. L. Kellogg Distinguished Professor of Accounting and Information Management at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, with his high spirits and overwhelming energy was a true inspiration to all of us and taught us how one can dream big and how these dreams can come true provided we are focused and put ourselves wholly behind making these dreams a reality.

And when I say ‘stretch yourself’ I must mention Prof. Venkat Krishnan and Prof. Tapan Panda. I often thought that there should a Great Lakes Bravery Award given to all the students who take both Prof. Venkat’s and Prof. Tapan’s courses in the same term! They always pushed you harder than you thought you were capable of performing.

On hindsight, taking their courses was one of the wisest decisions I made in Great Lakes. All those grilling morning 6:45 AM classes were totally worth it and made me realise how much I was capable of achieving when I put my mind to it.

The Campus

At Great Lakes I could see both, the sharpest of minds from all over India and globally distinguished academicians. But the next thing that caught my attention was the sprawling beautifully landscaped campus of Great Lakes. The 27 acre, LEED Platinum rated green campus – one of the few in the world, was just beautiful and we enjoyed every day of our stay.

Housekeeping to the ever supportive admin staff – they were always there to take care of us. Etched in every Great Laker’s  memory is the 4 AM filter coffee at the Bistro and the fun we had cracking the next day’s case study when the whole world was sleeping.

An alumni network for life

The best part of Great Lakes is that bonds formed at the institute don’t end when the batch completes its tenure – alumni tend to stay in touch and help one another long after they graduate. So it’s never an end when you graduate from Great Lakes but a whole new beginning.

The time spent at Great Lakes was the best time of my life – I saw it as the last opportunity to discover all that I could be and Great Lakes partnered me on my journey. I don’t know if I have reached the destination I set out for, but there is one thing I am pretty sure of – the institute has certainly kicked into motion my personal wheel of transformation. I hope the wheel keeps turning for the rest of my life.

Contributing blogger Gajendra Singh Sisodia is a techie turned marketing enthusiast and an alumni of Great Lakes Institute of Management – a leading business school situated in Chennai in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, India. He is currently working with a health care start up Xcode Life Sciences. He is a full time Corporate planning manager and part time travel junkie cum music addict cum HBR devotee.