Serendipity: An Unanticipated Moment of Inspiration


 by Akansha Jain

I recently attended a ‘Markets of Human Hope’ presentation. Mildly interested, I had not planned to be there. It was essentially SYs speed pitching their ideas to make an impact on the less-addressed more-valuable issues of different economies. These problems are not unknown, but what really matters is that someone actually takes the initiative to deep dive into one. The process of finding insights is where one often gets attached to a subject. I believe sessions like these can lay the foundation for big breakthroughs in the future.

Topics such as barriers to entrepreneurship in emerging markets, establishing micro financing in sub-Saharan region and disparity in income groups were discussed and were supported by data driven insights. I could relate to all issues in one way or another, but the one that struck me most was the food spoilage issue in India. This was not only because I am a native to India and have seen the problem in real life but, also because Arsh presented it really well.  


In that one hour I revisited my purpose for being in business school. I felt energized and inspired. As a FY, I realized it is important to not lose sight of the big picture. It's a good idea to step back every once in a while to just think and start building on your ideas, as well as meet people who think alike. The information and compassion that every student carries about his/her country is invaluable and a courses such as MHH makes it accessible to people who are interested in similar issues. Currently I find it hard to explore my interests on a formal platform at Darden, but we can form informal groups to identify and talk candidly about issues from different countries to identify like-minded people and grow the community.


******************************************


Akansha Jain is a first-year MBA student at the Darden Graduate School of Business. Having stayed in India and worked in the local industry, she recognizes the immense scope of development besides the challenges in emerging markets. She hopes to leverage her background combined with wealth of resources at Darden to learn more about them. She hopes to pursue activities outside of class that add value to the Darden experience for her peers.

No comments:

Post a Comment