michaelmas [week 2]: diwali 'festival of lights'

Some of you reading this blog post might be considering applying to an MBA program. Depending on your unique set of circumstances, some things may be more important to you than others when choosing a school. As a now thirty-two year old New Yorker about to get married in a year, my priorities might be very different from someone else’s. For example, when I was considering which schools to apply to I was very concerned with brand recognition, course length, cost of course, and the internationalism of the student body.

While the Oxford brand is undeniable, there are plenty of schools in the US that are equally well-known. Similarly, Oxford does not hold a monopoly on the one-year MBA scheme; although paying half the tuition of a comparable two-year American program is pretty nice! But one thing that really sets Oxford apart from all the rest is its diversity.

When I was studying for the CFA they talked about technology and globalization as the two biggest forces shaping the 21st century. Back home in New York, most MBA programs are split 75% American and 25% international. Here in Oxford that number is reversed. How can you succeed in an increasingly global world without an international degree? This year’s class of 244 Oxford MBA students comes from 48 countries with an average of six years work experience. Surprisingly, British students represent less than 5% of the class. Roughly speaking, one-third of the class comes each from North America & Europe, India, and Asia. This makes for a wonderful mix of cultures.

It was pretty clear to me that I wasn’t in New York anymore as I walked down the street past the ‘Honey Pot’ pub toward the b-school to celebrate Diwali, dressed from head-to-toe in a kurta that my friend Pavan had graciously lent me (complete with sandals). In fact, it was good enough to win ‘first-prize’ for best dressed. I must admit, however, that Rajeev and Raja were looking pretty snazzy, too, so I was lucky to have won!

About 20% of this year’s MBA class comes from India, and they did a wonderful job organizing the event. Sumi was the MC and taught us some ‘Bollywood’ dance moves, although no one could pull it off quite like him. Nazneen and Archana did a wonderful job choreographing some dances for the men and women. Everyone practiced so hard to learn the traditional Indian dances. I was amazed to see the great job Emily did – my study group partner. Then Rahul proved that not only does he have a wicked one-handed backhand in tennis, but he also has pinpoint accuracy when choosing Bingo numbers through a computer Random Number Generator. Nice job!

But the highlight of night was when Harpreet in a show of camaraderie and respect, gave me his stoll (scarf) as a gift. As we danced into the night, celebrating “the victory of good over evil; the uplifting of spiritual darkness,” I couldn’t help but think that I would never have experienced this had I stayed in New York.