Spelling Out Kellogg in Stockholm!

One advantage of being an MBA student is having the time to travel. At Kellogg, you kick off your MBA career with a week of travel on a KWEST trip. KWEST trips are for incoming students and are led by returning students who enjoyed their own KWEST week so much that they want to contribute to the next class’ experience.

I am one of those people.

My own KWEST Panama trip exceeded all expectations. Not only did I go zip-lining and white water rafting for the first time, I also came back with a group of friends that I am still close with to this day. Because of this, there was no doubt in my mind that I wanted to lead a KWEST trip in 2012.

There is a lot of work that goes into leading a KWEST trip. KWEST Scandinavia planning started in November of 2011 – almost 8 months before we actually left for Finland. Our leader group spent countless hours finalizing the itinerary, analyzing transportation options and looking up hotels, activities and restaurants for 25 people!

However, in the end, all the hard work was 100% worth it. I got to travel with four of my closest friends (the other trip leaders), and we each got to know 20 incoming students. As a group, we explored three beautiful European cities – Helsinki, Tallinn and Stockholm. We impressed the Tallinn locals with our 80’s costumes, journeyed on three boats and enjoyed a day on an archipelago island off Stockholm. But besides the experience of traveling to these incredible places, the best part of being a KWEST leader is the ability to build friendships with the incoming class.

For many Kellogg students, their KWEST group contributes to their most memorable times at school; I am one of the lucky ones to have been able to be a part of two incredible KWEST groups.

Our Overnight Cruise from Tallinn to Stockholm

Filed under: Student Life Tagged: Kellogg Student Experience, kwest, KWEST Leader, Scandinavia, travel

How time flies! It feels like just yesterday that I sat here, likely in the same spot, putting final touches on my application essays. Today, as I sit back and reflect on this past quarter, I am truly blown away by how much I have learned in just a few months – not only from an outstanding faculty but from a VERY accomplished peer group.

From the moment I landed on campus until the last day of finals, it has been a whirlwind of challenges and opportunities. The video montage captures just a few of the highlights from the past quarter: 

There were so many great memories, but my favorites have just been hanging out with my new friends and getting to know them in the incredibly supportive community that is Kellogg.

And while I know that the next few months are going to be tough and busy with internship searching and interviews, I have resolved (yes, I do new year resolutions) to be more grateful this year. As we transition into the new year, I feel incredibly thankful: for the opportunities Kellogg has provided, the amazing friends I’ve made and the fact that we have, bar none, the best Career Management Center around.

Happy New Year to everyone and best wishes to all Round 2 applicants!

President Obama Blocked By Confetti
Photo Credit: Amar Shah

As President Obama’s second inauguration (hopefully featuring a second fabulous hat) approaches, it’s a good time to reflect on how lucky I was to be a member of the Kellogg community during this important time in our country’s history.

In the months leading up to the election, Kellogg offered a multitude of ways to engage in the discussions surrounding November 6. The Healthcare Club hosted a panel outlining what could be expected in terms of health care reform, depending on the outcome of the election. The Public Policy Club sponsored a debate-watching event, featuring instant polling and analysis by Kellogg Professor Adam Waytz. Student Affairs hosted an election night reception where students could mingle with Deans Sally Blount and Betsy Ziegler while watching the election results roll in.

On the home front, my roommate and I hosted a debate-watching party for the third and final Presidential debate, complete with Romney-ritas and Barack Bellinis (we were pretty pleased with ourselves). And then, the weekend before the election, I filled up my car with gas, picked up four other second-year Kellogg students and drove to Ohio!

Get Out The Vote was alive and well at Kellogg. Students supporting both Presidential campaigns rallied and drove out to key states nearby – Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio – you name the state, and Kellogg was there. I was proud to join over 70 Kellogg students in Toledo to get the vote out in support of President Obama. This impressive turnout was entirely due to Carrol Chang, a JD-MBA Kellogg student who was at Obama Headquarters in Toledo all of fall quarter working on the campaign.  In her “spare time,” she emailed, called, and cajoled all 70+ students to make the 5-hour trip and spend a day or two knocking on doors of undecided voters.

Our cumulative hard work paid off and, for our volunteer efforts, we were rewarded with the opportunity to attend the election night party at McCormick Place, where President Obama gave his victory speech. Words cannot possibly do justice to the excitement of the evening – being with thousands of people, standing for hours, waiting for the election results to come in and then being in the same (very, very large) room where the re-elected 44th President of the United States addressed the crowd. Being with dozens of Kellogg students (many of them scattered around the enormous convention center), was simply icing on the cake.

Kellogg Getting Out The Vote at Obama Headquarters in Ohio

Election Night at McCormick Place!

Since my very first Kellogg experience, I’ve been pleasantly surprised with how nice everyone is to the Joint Ventures – or partners of the students. I’ve met many people willing to go out of their way to make us feel welcome and a part of the Kellogg community, including students, faculty and staff.

During KWEST, I got a very good idea of what the next two years would be like, and by CIM week, I was already in love with Kellogg. I really wanted to be more involved with the school, both to support my husband and to make the most of my time here. So with the help of a couple of people in Student Affairs (Wendy Metter and Maggie Cong-Huyen), I started to work with the students in designing their graphic materials for clubs and conferences.

Overall, I worked with over 12 different teams and dozens of students. This particular experience allowed me to meet great people, attend many different Kellogg events and expand my professional network. I was also able to gain pretty good insight on student life by attending team meetings and just being at Jacobs. Being constantly surrounded by passionate people who are so motivated to make a difference in the world is very inspiring. This has definitely been one of the highlights of my stay here.

I was also very attracted to the possibility of auditing classes. My husband and I have completely different professional backgrounds, and so I thought our academic interests would be very different as well. But as I got more engaged, we discovered that we had more things in common than we originally thought and ended up being classmates and team members. And even though a 3-hour night class is certainly not my idea of the perfect date, it is something that we had never done together in the past and a fun way to get to know each other better.

But the thing that I love most about Kellogg is the people. We have established incredible friendships with people from different backgrounds and perspectives. Even though I’ll be very sad to see everyone leave, I’m happy to think that in a couple of months from now, we’ll have many reasons to visit them (and places to stay) all around the world.

At the end of these two amazing years, I’m very happy to realize that the personal and professional development has been mutual and that even though I was not a student, Kellogg has been one of the best experiences of my life.

Ana Sofia Azcunaga is the Joint Venture of Jorge Montemayor ’13. She is originally from Monterrey, Mexico and has a bachelor’s degree in architecture and a master’s degree in graphic design. She currently works for a family business in construction and design.

Attendees of the Diwali party gather together for a group photo

At Kellogg, we love celebrating our diversity. The Diwali party hosted by the India Business Club on Nov. 7 was truly reflective of this fact as the vibrant Kellogg community, decked out in their finest ethnic wear, got together to celebrate the Indian festival of lights — Diwali.

Deepawali or Diwali is one of the most important Hindu festivals and definitely the biggest and brightest of them. It is known as the festival of lights (“Deep” means “light” and “avali” means “a row,” therefore Deepwali means “a row of lights”) and is marked by four days of celebration. Each of the four days during the festival is separated by a different tradition, but what remains true and constant is the celebration of life, its enjoyment and goodness.

Students across the various programs dressed up in beautiful sarees and kurtas and were welcomed inside the atrium with a “tilak” or “tika” (a small dot of red vermilion paste) applied to their forehead as a sign of good luck and auspicious beginnings. The atrium itself was completely transformed with colorful streamers and bright “diyas” (small lamps) running alongside each wall. The decorations could be summed up perfectly by an overheard comment from a student passing the atrium: “Feels like I am in India!” Most important was the sheer sense of celebration and joy that could be felt all around with everyone having finished midterms and excited about celebrating Diwali with their classmates.

An area that kept buzzing throughout the night was the Diwali photo booth with traditional Indian props such as bright turbans, pots, moustaches (Rajasthani style!) and much more. The booth ensured that people went home with some fun memories of the night. The event also included a henna studio where people could get traditional henna tattoos made by student volunteers, who did a brilliant job!

An hour into the event, the music got louder and the dance floor was set ablaze by people showcasing their Bollywood dancing skills. It was incredible to see many who were new to a saree pulling off dancing with the grace and elegance that would put regular saree-wearers to shame. Also inspiring were the always-cute Kellogg kids, who danced to popular tracks with their parents and other guests. The DJ played a good mix of songs and ensured that guests were reluctant to leave even after the party had almost wrapped up. 

Devika Halbe (@devikahalbe) is a full-time MBA student at the Kellogg School of Management and is originally from India. In her spare time, she enjoys writing small articles and poems, and can often be found trying to Skype with her pet dog back in India.

The Net Impact Board gathers for a group photo.

A few days after winning Net Impact Graduate Chapter of the Year for the second time in three years, the Kellogg Net Impact Club hosted its first ever Net Impact Week on campus from Oct. 28 to Nov. 1.

Anchored by Kellogg’s Innovating Social Change Conference on Oct. 30, Net Impact Week brought together students, faculty and practitioners to discuss how the tools of business can be used to change lives worldwide. We had panel discussions exploring how to build an impactful career, forums on campus to allow impact-minded students to connect and share ideas, and speakers covering topics ranging from social entrepreneurship and corporate citizenship to international development and impact investing. (If you think that was a mouthful, imagine how busy our week was on campus!)

As a second year student at Kellogg, I’ve been plugged into the social impact scene for quite a while. Yet even a veteran like me found an incredible richness of innovative thinking and revolutionary business models being shared by speakers and fellow students alike.

Here are some of the week’s most powerful ideas that I’ll carry with me the rest of my career:

Where there’s an underserved market, there’s an opportunity for impact.

F.K. Day, co-founder of World Bicycle Relief, noticed a transportation gap in rural Africa: the bikes available for purchase were so poorly made they fell apart within days. As a result, most people walked everywhere. His organization designed a sturdier bicycle with increased cargo space to provide villagers a more reliable form of travel. Doctors can now visit more patients each day, merchants can carry five times more goods to market, and students’ grades and attendance are up.

Effective partnerships come from unlikely places.

ColaLife, a social enterprise based in the UK, noticed that essential medicines weren’t reaching rural African communities. Yet shelves in every village were well-stocked with Coca-Cola. By finding a way to squeeze its medicines into the unused space in Coke’s shipping crates, ColaLife unlocked a distribution network on a new continent. (With a healthier customer base, Coke’s not complaining either.)

Commoditizing social impact can be a good thing.

Commodity markets aren’t usually thought of as hotbeds of innovation, but they do encourage growth in two key ways: establishing a common transactional language and providing a powerful incentive to reduce costs. Jason Saul, founder of Mission Measurement and a lecturer at Kellogg, advocates a standardized set of outcome metrics for social impact organizations — jobs created, vaccinations administered, gallons of water saved, etc. — just like those that apply to producers of traditional commodities. With clear and objective criteria for comparison, resources can be directed to those programs that produce outcomes most effectively.

Multinational companies are global platforms for creating shared value.

Accenture allows experienced employees to spend time consulting for nonprofits in developing countries through its Accenture Development Partnerships program. Thousands of consultants volunteer to participate in the program each year – even though it means a temporary pay cut and time away from their families – and the benefits are tremendous. Organizations worldwide receive top-notch consulting services at reduced rates, employees find meaningful ways to grow and give back, and Accenture develops an in-house team of global leaders with expertise in developing markets.

The future is bright.

The Innovating Social Change Conference convened well over 100 speakers and attendees, and programming on the Kellogg campus throughout Net Impact Week engaged dozens more students in conversation about how to build impactful careers. Within a decade or two, our generation will be running the world’s largest companies, nonprofit organizations and social enterprises. Impact-minded leaders will find allies everywhere they look.

In a way, it really boils down to one thing: always keep exploring.

The power of business to create social change is being redefined every day, and my Kellogg education is just the starting point. It takes a commitment to lifelong learning, a willingness to engage with diverse collaborators, and an openness to inspiration to maximize our ability to change the world for the better.

Alex Colman is a second-year student at Kellogg who hails from sunny Santa Barbara, CA. He has previously worked for Mosaic, an online crowdfunding platform for solar energy projects, and Cornerstone Research, a provider of economic research for corporate litigation clients.

My KBDC Team

My classmates and I largely come from structured backgrounds: consultants, investment bankers, marketers, engineers, the list goes on. We’re used to identifying and scoping problems and working with teams to create solutions. #oldhat. The beautiful thing about business school is that it gives you the opportunity to expand beyond the norm and explore new ways of tackling challenges. 

I recently participated in the annual Kellogg Business Design Challenge (KBDC), which offered me the opportunity to step out of my comfort zone and tear all of those familiar problem-solving steps to the ground. KBDC is an annual competition that leverages the principles of user-centric design to solve a real-life client issue. This year’s challenge was to help executives from Hyatt think about how hotel loyalty is changing in today’s economy, and how they can capitalize on emerging trends to create more genuine connections with their guests. In total over 100 Kellogg students formed ~25 teams to participate in the competition.

As part of the challenge we had access to leading design and innovation thinkers from firms such as Gravity Tank. They led us through a series of workshops that pushed us to think about the prompt in different ways. Starting with design and user research, we then learned about prototyping, how to synthesize our field research and finally how to craft a compelling story. Special attention to that last point: a compelling story is nothing like you’re used to if you come from a traditional business background. In my structured past as a consultant I felt comfortable presenting a logical deck that was supported by research, data and overly complex powerpoint slides. While some of these elements exist in a compelling pitch (research and data…leave the complex slides for the archive), in order to be effective you have to hit the audience on an emotive level. Truly inspired thinking has to pull the audience to innovations that they have never considered before, and that requires a different kind of story to take them there.

The contest culminated with 5 finalist teams presenting to executives from Hyatt and a high-energy crowd of Kellogg peers. While our team felt confident that we had developed interesting insights and a compelling re-thinking of the loyalty experience, we weren’t sure how well it would resonate with the Hyatt team. Design and innovation is inherently disconfirming; what makes sense to you at the start is not where you end up because the entire focus is on creating a breakthrough idea. While my team had undertaken that journey to understanding, we now had the tough task of getting others to buy-in.

Presenting at KBDC

When it was our turn to present I couldn’t help but reflect on how we had gotten there. Every slide or insight we talked through, while well-polished on the surface, was in my mind still standing on a billowing cloud of chalk dust from the frantic whiteboarding that we had wrestled with. As my teammates—Ann and Ariel—smoothly walked through their sections of the pitch, I was called back to the hours of back-and-forth debates, the mockups that were developed and then scraped, and the crushed coffee cups being tossed into the trash that had helped fuel our efforts.

In the end our team won the competition, which was an incredible validation of our hard work. Reflecting on the experience though, the greatest benefit of this challenge was getting to practice and become (somewhat) competent with these new ways of thinking. We all come to business school to learn how to become more effective business leaders, and challenges such as this one help put that learning into practice with new tools for tackling and solving problems. Also invaluable was the path that Ann, Ari and I had walked down together. I gained an incredible respect for what they were capable of, and battling through the process brought us closer. Friendships like these make challenges like KBDC something bigger, something memorable that we’ll hold on to long after the chalk dust has settled.

Ryan Shain (@RyanShain) is a first year student at Kellogg’s full-time MBA program. Prior to Kellogg he worked in strategy consulting. Ryan is also the co-founder of an eLearning business that has helped over 30,000 clients improve their food safety operations.

Awesome Collaboration

The single most discussed topic these days on campus is “Finals,” the nickname for end of term exams. So I thought it was time to sit down and reflect on my experience so far, in the eyes of an international student of age above median. As you go through, please remember that this is the experience as I lived it; different students have different experiences.

Awesome¹

Imagine you just scored three points in a basketball game and your fans are yelling at you because they’ve been waiting in anticipation. So I come from Cameroon, a place where the word “awesome²” is pronounced as a special distinction, as we have high expectations. Now, I am confused at how often it is used at Kellogg. I hear people saying it everywhere in town, but it carries more meaning here.

For example: a fantastic classmate was looking to name our workgroup, and she came up with Team Awesome³. How did it help? We did great and were united as a team under this identity. In another example, first-year students were hugging behind me recently when suddenly one screamed “oh my g… that’s awesome⁴…” clearly wowed by another classmate’s success. That’s Kellogg, a place where the word “awesome⁵“ is rightly abused. People here do really awe… pardon me, amazing things: from winning new venture competitions to building innovative ideas. I find it all simply awesome⁶.

The Pain

So it is 4:52 a.m. on a Monday morning, I have a Turbo Accounting assignment due at 10:00 a.m. I have been seated since 11:00 p.m. and am still on problem 28 of 35. What I don’t realize is that the salty water that I just wiped on my lips is from my eyes. I am in tears. There are amazing moments at Kellogg: days running from one activity to another, cheering contests, dinners and late night events sponsored by the school, making videos at 2:00 a.m. knowing you have to be on campus early in the morning, and so much more that I can’t account for.

Going to Class

While you may socialize to the extreme, you can’t miss a class (unless otherwise justified). You have to do your assignments with the group or individually depending on the directions. You are expected to contribute in groups and not free ride (by the way, we do group evaluation at the end). Oh! And you’re also reading the 45-80 pages of text preceding each strategy class.

Skills I strengthened during the term:

• Linear Thinking: When analyzing an issue, no need to jump from part to part if no data suggests I should. Thinking coherently, going beyond the obvious answer and questioning assumptions is what gets me to the right solution.
• Time management: Being late in any event isn’t the most tolerated thing. While people are patient, they have time commitments too.
• Priorities management: No matter what I am going through, delivering on time is what is expected from me. After all, my classmates are facing at least the same situation if not worse.
• Personal Finance Management: There are many fundraisers, social events and trips, just to name a few. If I can’t do them all, nobody will blame me. Keeping an eye on one’s finances is key.
• Collaboration: Perhaps the most important skill. As it turns out for my assignment at 4:52 am, it was actually a group assignment, but my groupmates and I opted to do it individually in an effort to save time. That was learning the hard way. We are way more effective now as a team.

The Classes: What I Learned

• Management and Organizations: My very first lecture, and Professor Victoria Medvec is a dream seller. She has a fan club on campus. Every case is about a CEO facing a challenge; every issue is at the top level. We studied people from Fortune 100 companies. We took decisions for and made suggestions to those CEOs. I couldn’t dream of more for a start.
• Business Analytics I: First contact with probabilities after nine years out of school. Back to school is not always easy. Professor Michael Mazzeo is awesome⁷. Email him at midnight that you are stuck, and you’ll be surprised at what time he replies.
• Business Analytics II: When certainty becomes uncertain, the most accepted answer is: “It depends.” If your results aren’t robust and your variables are junk, you did a bad regression. After grading an assignment, Professor David Dranove literally says, “If you had less than 80%, come see me after,” a code to say get prepared to sit with me or my assistant until you understand the concepts. While that is exactly the solution, for our busy schedule it means rearranging one’s time. As a result, students are fighting hard to be on top in the first place. And please don’t ask me whether I did see him. It depends.
• Strategy: The most interactive class of the term. The level of analysis that comes from classmates is impressive.
  • Professor Danielle Li: Why should company X invest in this business?
  • Student A: The high return is appealing… (He is a venture capitalist)
  • Student B: What should we compute first? (Engineers)
  • Student C: From my experience, typically consumers in this business are price-sensitive and also react to new advertising… (This is a marketing professional)
  • Student D: It depends; on one hand there is an incentive to invest given the growth rate of the market, yet… (Did you figure out it’s a consultant?)
• Turbo Accounting: This class is really turbo, consider twice before registering. Professor Mark Finn is awesome⁸ as well. He will make you analyze live financial data and connects everything to real life. I enjoy his daily news, basically key news around companies (IPO, bankruptcy, etc.).
• Finance I: I learned to like Finance with Professor Phillip Braun. Started with understanding the effective interest rate on my personal loans to now managing portfolios. Really motivated me to take Finance II next term.
• The Dean: This is not a class but the most awesome⁹ person at Kellogg. The person inspiring the awesome¹⁰ things here. So futuristic and insightful, every time I’ve had a chance to listen to Dean Blount, it was all about dreaming big, making meaningful change in organizations and places we live, thinking bravely. It is a catch phrase, but I truly believe it.

Think Bravely

Winter Term Forecast: Career Management Center (CMC) is Outperforming

Summer internship recruiting is on its way. We are busy as ever. From coffee chats, to resume review (yes it takes time too) and interview preparation, the clock is running. On campus interviews will start in January, yet the CMC office is outperforming already. I went to a Dean’s event recently, and behind the door was one of our amazing career coaches. I had only met with her once and that was two weeks earlier. As I got in, she called my name straightforward and proceeded to talk about my career situation. Isn’t that the type of support we need and want from our CMC? Once again, I’d call that awesome¹¹.

By the way, if you read until the end, it means you liked the story and for sure you are awesome¹². Did I really just use the word 12 times? Welcome to Kellogg!!!

Cyrille Minkoulou Ateba, MBA class of 2015, intended major in Strategy and Management, comes from Cameroon. He joined Kellogg to become a world class leader, a journey which started with diversity. In his words, Kellogg excels in fostering diversity-different views that make the whole compulsive. Africa wouldn’t have so many wars if people had appreciated the real power of diversity.

Students spell out Kellogg during CIM Week 2013

As Kellogg students settle into Thanksgiving break and look back on their last quarter, we asked, “What skills, knowledge or experiences are you most thankful to have gained from your time at Kellogg so far?” Read what a few students had to say:

The team environment at Kellogg has been by far the most impressive and impactful thing I’ve experienced to date. At Kellogg, “collaboration” is not just business-school recruiting jargon. My classmates, section-mates, assignment groups and case competition teams have taught me so much about working with others and about the subject matter that we’re covering. It often seems that my group members are just as responsible for my business education as my professors are, and they take that responsibility very seriously. I believe that my learning and development has been accelerated thanks to the helpful and collaborative team environment at Kellogg.

— Jasmine Lipford ’15

The team building, section bonding and events such as CIM Olympics and Showcase. Even though I have been in such situations before, soft skills through the MORS course really helped to put a framework on the situation. DECS has been tough but interesting – it has provided good insight into data and how to analyse it. I have also been polishing some of my networking skills by speaking to a lot of second years and attending corporate presentations!

— Aftab Khanna ’15

There are many things that attending Kellogg has provided me, but the experience that I am most thankful for was GIM Brazil. The lifelong friendships I forged, the amazing international business leaders I had the opportunity to speak with and learn from, and the opportunity to visit Brazil, which is now favorite country in the world, was truly a transformative experience. I feel blessed beyond belief to have had the opportunity to participate in GIM Brazil. Obrigado!

— Rahshiene Taha ’14

I am most thankful for the exposure I have received over the past few months to different industries and positions. Coming out of undergrad, it felt like all of my friends went into consulting or finance, and many of my friends in Boston were in one of those two industries. Kellogg has opened my eyes to a host of other industries and positions that I would not have ordinarily considered – through company information sessions, class case studies and interaction with my fellow classmates. For example, my KWEST trip included people from consumer and packaged goods firms, politics, start-ups, advertising, medicine, the military, education – I was the only consultant in the group!

— James Rowan ’15

Students crowd into the atrium for Drag TG

During the 2013-2014 school year, Friendfactor selected Kellogg to participate in the Friendfactor MBA Ally Challenge. When I learned about this challenge, a sense of excitement overcame me — we now had the chance to show the world what an inclusive community we have here at Kellogg, as well as to help raise awareness of matters impacting the LGBT community. Through the competition, we are compared to the other programs based on the following factors:

• Membership tally
• Number of ally activities hosted
• Awareness of LGBT matters
• Overall culture

I’m happy to say that as we near the end of fall quarter, we are in second place (out of 12 programs) with only Ross ahead of us. We also are the only school to have been awarded silver status (and gold is definitely within reach for us!).

• Gold: Have membership of at least 200, host 9+ activities, and be in the top 25% of all programs from expected outcomes
• Silver: Have membership of at least 100, host 6+ activities, and have an average score of 75% from expected outcomes

Participating in this Challenge has made me aware of a couple of things, which I am hoping to enhance in my tenure as Ally Co-Chair:

• While we have an extremely supportive ally base, the Kellogg community is not as aware of issues impacting our LGBT peers. One way we are addressing this point is by including an allies section to our Gay and Lesbian Management Association (GLMA) e-mails.
• Kellogg students love participating in events hosted by the GLMA! To foster this connection more, we are looking to partner with specific student organizations and bring about even greater change.

To learn more about the MBA Ally Challenge, please visit http://www.friendfactor.org/mba-ally-challenge.  I can’t wait to see how things fare throughout the rest of the year!

Nisa Agrawal, 2Y – Class of 2014, is originally from the Chicagoland area. Prior to Kellogg, she was an auditor at PricewaterhouseCoopers but came to Kellogg with a desire to move into marketing. As an Ally Co-Chair for the Gay and Lesbian Management Association (GLMA), Nisa enjoys helping her fellow peers learn more about issues impacting the LGBT community. In her free time, Nisa enjoys spending time with family and friends, singing, dancing and teaching Zumba.

Students put on a belly dancing performance at MOVE TG Dance Showcase

“I just can’t believe that this is my life. In my fantasy we’re running wild…” — “Wild” by Jessie J

This song keeps playing again and again in my head, although MOVE TG Dance Showcase ended Friday. MOVE is Kellogg’s dance club, which consists of students and joint ventures (JVs) who enjoy dancing. There are several free introductory dance workshops offered by Kellogg students including Salsa, Swing, Belly-Dancing, Cha-Cha, African, Bhangra and Zumba. However, the biggest event that everyone looks forward to is Annual MOVE TG Dance Showcase, which is held on the last Friday of Fall Quarter each year.

In order to participate in this performance, you need to…volunteer. Period. Yes, you don’t need to have dancing background at all. There’s no audition or interview. Just your interest and commitment to rehearse for no more than 5 hours are enough. Personally, I normally enjoy performing, although I don’t often go clubbing. I have never taken a dancing class before, so Hip-Hop dance is a totally new experience for me.

A pair of swing dancers take their turn performing

After practicing from scratch since the beginning of November, MOVE TG was a success, thanks to choreographers and performers! Salsa, Swing, Bhangra, Samba, Belly Dancing and Hip-Hop dance crews did a great job not only impressing audience but also enjoying themselves.

What I get from this event is not only Hip-Hop choreography but also friends. I now have five new friends with similar interests. Above all, it’s one of the great opportunities to step out of your comfort zone. As a 1Y, I won’t have another year to perform. However, I am really glad that I did it. This experience is totally worth the time and energy.

Thanks so much MOVE execs, all choreographers and performers. Hopefully there will be more and more participants in the upcoming events, and MOVE TG will be one of the most famous Kellogg traditions. Dance Bravely!

Thiraya Thiranakanat ’14 is from Bangkok, Thailand. Before Kellogg, she worked for an energy company in Thailand. She’s interested in traveling, eating, cooking and dancing.

Current Kellogg students weigh in on their favorite classes so far and the ones they are most looking forward to taking.

I really enjoyed Strategy & Organization with Professor Niko Matouschek. Maybe it is the Sociology major in me but I have always been fascinated with organizational behavior within a firm. I loved the way this class approached the topics of externalities and employee incentive and compensation from an individual and team perspective. These are definitely topics I will keep top of mind when leading a company in the future. Also Professor Niko is an absolute ROCKSTAR!

The class I am super excited about taking next is Comprehensive Perspectives of Leading A Sports Entity.

— Rahshiene Taha ’14

I particularly loved two classes: Leadership in Organizations taught by Professor Loran Nordgren, because it structured a lot of key frameworks around leadership and communication that I was sub-consciously aware of, and Professor Mark Finn’s Turbo Accounting class. He is so well travelled and worldly aware that it added a new dimension to the class. I am a CPA and would concede that accounting can be boring at times, but he used multiple examples from around the world, related the concepts to current and past business events, and made accounting more lively!

For the Winter quarter, I am looking forward to the Marketing class with Professor Julie Henessey. I haven’t studied marketing formally before, and I am really eager to build skills and knowledge in the area. I have heard great things about her and cant wait for the class to begin!

— Aftab Khanna ’15

I took a course called New Venture Discovery, taught by Professor Carter Cast. Since I have never had any entrepreneurial experience, everything I learned in this class was tremendously valuable. Some of the key information I learned was: how to identify a problem worth solving and translate it into a solution; discovery techniques to identify, assess, and develop new business opportunities; how to clearly articulate a concept’s value proposition and positioning; how to effectively sell the business idea; and many more. Furthermore, not only getting a taste of the real world pitching process, but also listening to other teams’ presentations and judges’ comments was a great learning opportunity and eye-opening experience. Moreover, what mattered most to me was Professor Cast. His passionate attitude and supportive advice always inspired me, and I feel very lucky to have been able to learn from such a terrific professional like him.

Another class I took was Retail Analytics: Pricing & Promotion taught by Professor Eric Anderson. This class provided me with a deeper understanding of customer behavior; institutional knowledge on many aspects of retailing, such as pricing, promotions, private labels, trade spending; and tools and frameworks for measuring, assessing and optimizing retail marketing programs. I believe it is one of the most important classes to represent what Kellogg offers and why it has been the most prominent in marketing among the world’s top business schools.

Next quarter, I am studying abroad at London Business School (LBS) as an exchange student. I am especially excited for the Negotiation and Bargaining class and I plan to take full advantage of being part of a truly diverse student body at LBS.

— Emi Yokoshima ’14

I loved Marketing 431 (Marketing Management) with Professor Kent Grayson. He’s a spectacular professor who really forced me to think of marketing in a more rigorous, methodical way. Though I’ve been doing marketing throughout my career, it was a good challenge to be forced to think and analyze tactics and strategy in a new way. I feel like I’m already a stronger marketer because of it.

— Jordana Cohen ’15

My favorite class was definitely (and surprisingly – sorry Professor Wioletta Dzuida!) my DECS / Stats class. I wasn’t expecting it to be as interesting and relevant as it was, but I learned things that will definitely be applicable to me as I go forward in my career — no matter where it may take me.

I’m really excited about Healthcare Strategy next semester with Professor Dafny. Everything I’ve heard about the class sounds like it will be incredibly interesting and informative and that the Professor has incredible experience in the industry that she is able to call upon to help make the classroom feel more like the real world.

— Sheila Shah ’15

This is like asking me to choose between my brothers! My classes have been truly stellar—some highlights from the fall: I took a really neat M&A class (taught by Mark Angelson, the former CEO of RR Donnelly and Deputy Mayor of Chicago under Rahm) in which we dissected a merger each week.. The best part? Our professor (who was sometimes the CEO of the acquiring company in the case) would bring in the banker, the lawyer and/or the operator who worked on the deal to lead the discussion.

Another dynamic course was the Startup Programming and Management class. I have had IT developers work for me in the past, but I did not know the first thing about coding. By the end of the quarter, my partner and I built a (very basic, but still functioning) website. It was neat to build something in class and walk away with:

1. A deeper appreciation of programmers/developers
2. A much stronger sense of what it takes to build, iterate, test and evolve a web/mobile application.

Next quarter: I’m excited for all, especially the Product Management for Technology Companies course (another relatively new Kellogg entrepreneurship course).

— Matthew Zafirovski ’14

Share your resolutions and reflections at OurKellogg.com

Just as finals were wrapping up fall quarter at Kellogg, we asked students, “What is one way you have been transformed this year? How will you transform the world in 2014?” Read their responses below, and share your own using #OurKellogg and by visiting OurKellogg.com.

The first quarter at Kellogg made me aware of things I had only heard about before—the camaraderie of a business school, the wide knowledge of multiple subjects, the ins and outs of networking, and endless group assignments! I am a work in progress, but I have definitely become more social than I was before coming to school.

For 2014, I am not sure if I can take one big bang step to modify the world, but I would like to take advantage of the several volunteering opportunities at Kellogg, such as Kellogg Cares, to impact the community around me.

— Aftab Khanna ’15

First and foremost, I got engaged this fall. I proposed to my now fiancée in one our favorite spots, Regents Park in London!

Over the past year, I like to think that I’ve become better at time and energy management—from balancing academics to Kellogg commitments (extracurricular and social) to fitness (did two half-IRONMANs this year) to travel/adventure (took five international trips) to Chicago activities (I am fortunate to sit on the board of an education foundation) to friends and family, etc., etc. In other words, the typical MBA life. I have gotten better at prioritizing, understanding my limits and saying no.

In 2014, I hope to start a company!

— Matthew Zafirovski ’14

I’ve become more introspective and aware of my own strengths and weaknesses. Being challenged in subject areas and really realizing what I need to do to be successful in school and in my career has made me more thoughtful of the choices I’m making and where I need to focus my efforts in recruiting and classes.

— Jordana Cohen ’15

I fell in love with traveling and I would love to have the opportunity to work internationally for an extended period in my career. I would often find myself talking to my international classmates about their countries and listening to the passion in their voice as they would describe to me their countries, customs and cuisines. Last year I had the opportunity to travel to some amazing places, such as France, Spain, Brazil, Colombia and St Croix, and I realized how similar people are around the world.

For the upcoming year I have made a vow to achieve an epic level of greatness on a daily basis and share that greatness with the world. I am hoping that this passion for greatness will become contagious and will inspire others to do the same. #BeGreat

— Rahshiene Taha ’14

I didn’t really believe this going into business school, but it really does transform you. It’s hard to pinpoint why or even how, but I know that the way I think, the way I respond and the way I act towards situations has dramatically changed—for the better. I’m much more aware of my surroundings and the forces that influence them, which I believe in turn will help me make a positive impact on the world. They do say, “change yourself, change the world,” right?

— Sheila Shah ’15

The winning team of the Holi Food fight organized by IBC and Kellogg Cares

Integrating exchange students into a b-school’s culture and student life is tough given the intensive nature of the MBA. Getting exchangers involved is even tougher in programs with bigger class sizes as there are fewer common classes with other students. However, as I sit down to reflect to write this blog on my experience at Kellogg, I realize that I have become completely immersed in the culture of the school. And Kellogg student clubs and events have played a major role in helping me achieve this level of immersion.

On an exchange, one is away from one’s normal circle of friends and family. This compounds the cultural shock of landing in a new country with different customs and culture. So getting the right friends quickly is important to deal with such situations. I was lucky enough to find student clubs here that were of interest and through these was able to meet nice people and form friendships that will last beyond my three months here.

Some of the clubs that I have been part of include:

India Business Club — The two events that I have been to brought out all kinds of emotions in me. The first one was a Bollywood movie, a romantic comedy Barfi. With some good food and great company, this was a perfect Friday night. The next event, organized by IBC in association with Kellogg Cares, was the Holi Food fight. As someone who hasn’t played Holi for years, this one brought back memories of my childhood. For those two hours, I was not an exchanger but a Bulldog team member (Bullfrog + Big dog).

The Francophone Connection - A French crêpe party that was organized side-by-side with the Super Bowl helped me get in touch with French-speaking students leading to philosophical discussions on the differences between American and French cultures and lifestyles.

Personal Sustainability Club – With the free yoga lessons on Tuesdays and an active Facebook group, this one helped me unwind physically and mentally.

Soccer Club - Soccer practice on Mondays and Wednesdays helped me stay in shape.

My life here at Kellogg has been richer thanks to these clubs and their members. And yes, thanks to the other clubs that organize TGIF, especially Kellogg Marketing Club for the T-shirt and Women’s Business Association for the chocolate fondue!

Sriram Raghavan (@sriram_raghavan) is an exchange student from ESSEC Business School ’13.

Only a quarter of classes can be enough to feel and take home Kellogg’s spirit. I spent 2013 winter quarter there on the Exchange MBA Program and lived it in full. From the fantastic classes to the very diversified clubs’ activities and even the campus services, there is no way you can’t learn and be encouraged to do better, dream and go for it after living Kellogg.

I was lucky to know very nice full-time students in my classes but also very interesting and fun people on exchange with me. We were quite a group and the stories to tell are a proof of it.

The slideshow above is just a summary of great memories. I will never forget my classes with Professor Mohanbir Sawhney and Professor Andrew Razeghi, nor the ideas bouncing in the Marketing Conference. Lunch ‘N’ Learn with Pepsico talking about Quaker brand, Kraft sharing how they invented Mio, the branding competition organized by the Design Club, and Professor Timothy Calkins reviewing last year’s SuperBowl ads were remarkable moments. Priceless were also the meetings with Loraine Hasebe and Madison Morris to talk about career development. I’m very thankful to them!

Spare time always had enjoyable plans, too. Going to Louie’s on Tuesday for the burgers, open mic Monday’s at Kafein, hanging out in McManus lounge, going swimming or playing racquetball in Henry Crown’s Sport Pavillion, spending St. Patrick’s in a green Chicago, watching the Bulls or the Blackhawks, listening to jazz in the city, LAHIMA‘s karaoke … The list could go longer, but there’s a way to sum it up: it was an amazing time.

Thanks again Kellogg for giving us this unforgettable opportunity. No more to say but hoping you enjoy the slideshow images at least a bit as I (we) did.

Eugenia Naser (@EugeniaNaser) was a student in the Master in Marketing program at the Universidad de San Andrés in Argentina, who studied at Kellogg as part of the International MBA Exchange Program during the winter quarter of 2013. She currently is Latin America Indirect Sales Business Leader at Mercer based in Buenos Aires.

Kellogg Student Camiel Irving

The time we spend at Kellogg allows us to reflect on what we truly value in life, what we are trying to accomplish and the type of leader we aspire to be. After graduation, with every passing day, there will be more and more competing voices in our lives and challenges to work through. While these new life experiences will teach us a lot, it would be great to have a way to look back and remember how we felt at graduation, when our goals and aspirations were most clear in our minds.

Kellogg Student Angelique Obiri

The idea for the Kellogg Portrait Book came out of a dinner with a friend, and passionate photographer, Hemant Goyal. He had an idea to take pictures of each member of the Class of 2014 holding a personal message and to put the pictures online for the students to see. After more discussion over good food and wine, the idea started to transform into something we believed could be larger, more impactful and create a new tradition at Kellogg. The Kellogg Portrait Book will be a coffee table book with a portrait of each student along with a message they would like to remind themselves of 10 years from now.  This book will stay with us no matter where our lives take us and will be a great way to not only remember ourselves at this pivotal point in our lives, but also the classmates we shared this transformative experience with.

Kellogg Student Patrick Bowe

With the involvement of the student body and the help of the Kellogg Photography club, we are well on our way to kick starting this new tradition with the 1^st edition of the Kellogg Portrait Book- Class of 2014.

Mala Sharma ’14 (@malakaruna) is a second-year student in the 2Y Full-time MBA program from Connecticut. Prior to Kellogg, she worked at JP Morgan in Product Management and Strategy, spending two years in NYC and four years between Hong Kong and Singapore.  Over the summer, she worked at E&J Gallo Winery in Brand Management within the Spirits division, where she will be returning after graduation. 

After spending 10 weeks with Professor Zettelmeyer, I can definitely say Consumer Analytics was my favorite class of the quarter. The course focuses on the quantitative analysis of customer data to improve your marketing efforts, so we spent class time focusing on utilizing the mounds of data that companies have to better acquire, nurture, and retain customers. Along with lectures, the cases that we did in class were actual problems facing businesses today, so I am walking out with a stronger knowledge of how real companies use demographic information and previous actions to better serve customers (along with how Comcast knows exactly what offer to give me in order to not cancel my cable service!). - Mitch Colgan

Mitch Colgan is a 2nd year student blogger who is majoring in international business, marketing and marketing management. 

Students on one of Kellogg’s Global Initiatives in Management (GIM) trips met and talked with Rwanda President Paul Kagame yesterday. Kagame told the students:

“Some believe there is one part of the world that specializes in democracy and another that knows nothing about it. Democracy cannot just be fancy words. It must be based on giving people the capacity to fully participate in creating an environment that ensures human dignity. It is about respecting who people want to be and not what others feel for or about them.”

See more photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulkagame/sets/72157642638815164/

About Global Initiatives in Management (GIM): A cornerstone of Kellogg’s international curriculum is the GIM program. GIM began in 1990 when a group of 27 students organized a course and a two-week trip to what was then the Soviet Union. Since then, the program has expanded greatly, covering five continents and hundreds of international destinations. Today, 250 students participate annually in the program, which offers courses to Kellogg’s full-time and part-time programs. 

“Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

My exchange session at Kellogg has come to an end, and my MBA journey finishes here too. Now I can say that my time at Kellogg will be always remembered, as a lesson learned, greatly lived.

I chose to come to Kellogg to finalise my MBA for two main reasons: experience the US education and expand my network, but the whole journey has overcome my initial expectations.

The highlights of being on exchange at Kellogg have been numerous, but I will mention four:

First, and the one I’m most proud of, I survived the polar vortex during first week! Having landed from Australia, leaving behind the start of the summer, and being from Spain, didn’t help to acclimatize to that freezing start.

Second, the welcoming and integrating environment I felt since day one. The full-time Spaniards at Kellogg organised a dinner for us during first weekend, that was a warm patriotic welcome. As well as the Kellogg Student Association, European Business Club and Asian Management Association, all of them organised events to welcome us on board.

The integration also came from the faculty and staff at Kellogg, during the first Spanish dinner, one of my teachers recognised me in the restaurant and greeted me by my name, the same person that invited the whole class to her place for a Super Bowl party, thanks Professor Pearlman!  We were also invited to Professor Kraemer ‘s place, a Kellogg legend, where we had pizza night for the end of the academic period.

Third, I enjoyed living in a little student city like Evanston, where most of your neighbours are your classmates, and you bump into each other in a café or a bar.

And last, the amazing bunch of people that became part of the Winter Exchange Program 2014, from all over the world, we created a dynamic group that made these three snowy months much more enjoyable. From cheering for the Bulls, to savouring the gastronomic goods that the city offers and enjoying the renowned blues and jazz bars in Chicago.

To all the above, thanks for sharing a lifetime experience. I will keep Thinking Bravely.

Spaniard from Valencia, paella cooker, casual runner and technology aficionado. After working in four continents and travelling in 46 countries, David Roca Ituren (@daroit) started his MBA at AGSM (Sydney) and finished it at Kellogg while on Exchange.