Hail, all hail, Cornell!

Attending Cornell University's commencement event this past weekend was a momentous event in my life. Experienced in true Cornellian spirit, both the Johnson School graduation that took place for us executives at the spectacular Bailey Hall; as well as attended the University wide graduation that took place on Sunday at the Schoellkopf Stadium. It was honestly an uplifting moment when the degree was conferred by President of the University. This occurred precisely at the time when he said -'I hereby confer the Master of Business Administration Degree, with all the Rights, Privileges, Honors and Responsibilities pertaining there to - Congratulations'. You could feel the sheer joy, excitement (and huge relief too) that engulfed the air when Johnson School's fabulous class of 2009 officially graduated!

This Ivy MBA program has been one of the richest experiences of my life and is worth all of the effort that it has required. As they say, the tassel's worth the hassle - yes indeed! The first time when I held the degree in my hand, I felt so proud and yet deeply humbled. Gave myself a pat on my back and said - 'Congrats on becoming the first female MBA Ivy graduate in the Keswani family!'

The heart and head have the same first three letters; the difference is known when you follow through. This accomplishment could not have been achieved without the unfailing support of my family, my employer and colleagues at American Express, the honored program faculty and off course, not forgetting - my team mates, with whom I was fortunate to have had the most profound experiences and diverse opportunities to partner with during the last 22 months.

I feel simply awesome, to be equipped with skills that will continue to help me in every part of my life both professionally and personally. There is no doubt that I will surely miss business school. Then again, I am eager to fully get back to a newer routine and venture back into a world otherwise known as 'life'. When you get into the grove of attending regular conference calls with team mates, it's only natural to feel weird when you don't have to attend one - ever. No more regular group assignments or logging onto blackboard to check on grades or course material updates, no more preparing for homework, quizzes, exams, or attending after class review sessions...no more stays at the Staler Hotel and IBM Palisades and their predictable food menus; no more hanging out at the ebar, the deemed second home during the program, hey no more blogging too ! Yup, all will seize to exist. Thankfully we will always have facebook and Linkedin to help us continuously stay connected. I am also excited to utilize this enhanced time to indulge and be part of the esteemed Cornell alumni network and hopefully experience all that it has to offer.

While documenting my last blog update, it was interesting to read through my first blog entry and its headline, logged way back in Oct '07 ! Even after the completing this amazing rigorous intellectually stimulating program, I am glad to report that I still feel that 'intuition will continue to be in vogue', or atleast is the case for me. I like to sign off by saying good luck again to the class of 2010 and incoming future Cornellians. I am sure you will have the time of your life. 'Wherever you go, go with all your heart' - Confucius.

Change always comes bearing gifts.

Yes, in less than a month from now, is graduation day! During this last leg of our term, we will be taught by Professor Robert Swieringa (Corporate Governance course) and Professor Maureen O'Hara (Financial Markets course) who are among the finest faculty at the Johnson School. The topics covered in Professor Maureen's class are extremely interesting.The course matter is very current; it impacts our day to day understanding of key characteristics, issues and triggers that exist in the financial markets today. Given the nature of our recent unpredictable banking environment, I find her class to be truly rewarding. Trust all of this learning will show its way in the finals that will take place during this upcoming class weekend :)

Typically when people finish business school it is natural that they think about how unbelievable school life was and how you would give anything to go back and relive 'those' days. Well, that might be true, but during this last leg, especially in an Executive MBA program, - a majority of us can already see that bold shinning finish line (or perhaps a musical disco ball, loud karaoke and/or a ton of alcohol) at the end of this incredible once in a lifetime experience.

Looking back, if I were to pick one thing that would make the highlight of my business school experience, it is most definitely the fact that I got to meet and work with some really cool people during the program.This has changed my life as I know it. I have seen myself evolve as a better individual and I think a bunch of us are just happy to have that MBA mojo in our lives.

Change is one of those things that can either bring great fear or excitement to a person's heart; it helps to start the process of moving on. Going back to business school for an Executive MBA weekend program, is a very serious commitment - requires rational reasoning of choices that impacts your personal choices as well. So to my classmates and faculty, that I have known during these two years, I like to say, 'Thank you.' I am glad to have had the opportunity to know you during the program.

Home run.

Certain recent courses undertaken in the program have kindled my entrepreneurial instinct, for e.g. like the Cornell Management game/Simulation course. This game deals with product/market expansion and segmentation and its influences to a company's share value. Simulation rounds involve making decisions w.r. to finance, operations and marketing management, competing with companies within a given industry. This game in essence allows for product, capacity, market and revenue planning, which in the process, gives you that feel for 'real-world-like' impact of complex managerial decision making perspectives which are very similar to real life situations. In an actual work environment, there are several unforeseen and adhoc organization specific economic influences and finer points of managerial soft-skills.These can create heavier influences in strategic thinking and its application.

The game involves a few decision making rounds, where a team might find itself in one round leading and on top of the world and other rounds perhaps prefer to bury their heads in the sand. Fortunately my team won the game for our given industry, and emerged taking home the grand prize. i.e. an A+ ! Congrats to my team mates - Mike & Pablo!

So I keep telling myself, all it takes is the determination to learn everything you can,with teamwork and patience; strategically then use that knowledge when the right moment comes and be disciplined about it. Business school grads have historically had a lot of fantastic career options and I too sense the same, having embraced the power of knowledge through this program. So in hindsight, if I actually turned down or postponed this opportunity, I probably would have kicked myself for the rest of my life. That said, I am looking forward to a cheerful summer and to continue to add items to the list titled 'things to do after May, once I graduate'!

What matters.

Today marks the end of another tumultuous week for the financial markets in a year that has already been one of the worst on record for the major stock indices. The market value of many companies continued to slide toward levels not seen since the 1990s. The positive side to this anxious economic environment, is that, it does attach premium value towards knowledge and learning, to cope and rationalize the situation.

There is no lack of analytics, decision trees, financial models, process maps and other forms of logical rational analysis, discussing the current state of affairs, be it in academics or corporate America. It's natural to assume that our days are saturated with rational left brain thought patterns. Well, this MBA program has not only equipped me with priceless academic insights gained thus far, but interestingly, has also paved the way to understand the softer aspects of thinking as well.

I have come to the conclusion that harnessing this cognitive skill enables to "connect the dots", if you will. It is in fact, a skill that is equally, if not more critical to leverage in such unpredictable business environments. Developing a personal way of understanding the profound impact of social influences and intangible drivers, be it decision making in business or otherwise, is a true differentiator.It naturally thrives and makes individual change real.