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ISSUE <strong>13</strong> OCTOBER 2016<br />

LEAD YOUR WAY<br />

7<br />

GOAL<br />

POST<br />

Pavan Kumar (Raju) Kanteti,<br />

ECE (2008-12), BVRIT<br />

MS in Information Technology &<br />

Management, University of Texas<br />

at Dallas<br />

Everyone has his own reasons for coming to the US for Masters. My<br />

reason was to have a degree in Management and at the same time<br />

experience a diverse learning environment and global exposure.<br />

With these two ideas in mind, I came to the United States in the fall<br />

of 2014 to the University of Texas at Dallas.<br />

Usually most of the students who come to the US from India are<br />

completely involved in their studies and do not take time for other<br />

activities. Considering the amount of money one spends for a<br />

foreign degree, this is totally valid. But along with achieving a<br />

world class Master's degree, I wanted to take full advantage of the<br />

other opportunities that the University provides to shape myself<br />

into a better, well learned person.<br />

I started off with volunteering for the Indian Students Association<br />

(ISA) here, which is the largest Indian Students Association<br />

across the United States with more than 2500 students. This part<br />

of being active in extra-curriculars was something I learned at<br />

BVRIT. During my stay at BVRIT, I was one of the student<br />

conveners and creative head for Zealotz 2011. So the<br />

participating nature came naturally to me and I int<strong>era</strong>cted with<br />

my peers, participated in the club activities and tried to help the<br />

organization and I gradually grew from a volunteer to the<br />

President of the organization. I lead a team of 25 officers. My take<br />

away from this was learning team management and developing<br />

leadership skills. I had a chance to work with the likes of the<br />

President of the University, the Dallas Police Department etc.,<br />

when the student community was facing some issues. I got a<br />

chance to lead the team that represented India and won 1st place<br />

at the International Talent Show, which is a competition among<br />

all the nationalities here and UTD has 110 of them. We have<br />

organized International Student Pickups 2015 and picked up 1000+<br />

international students from airport and provided temporary<br />

accommodation and helped in their smooth transition. We have<br />

organized Webinars and Orientations for newly admitted students<br />

to help in their smooth transition. These are to name a few of the<br />

numerous activities of the organization. From all these, I have<br />

learned how to represent a community to the world. I believe this<br />

experience taught me more than what an MBA degree would teach<br />

me.<br />

Along with ISA, I have been a part of other technical clubs and I was<br />

awarded with Dean's Impact Scholarship for displaying<br />

extraordinary impact to the school.<br />

Apart from these, my most cherished stint at the University would<br />

be participating in the Business Idea Competition. One of the<br />

biggest competitions of the Dallas area that started with more than<br />

a 100 teams and filtered down to 6 teams for finals through quarters<br />

and semis. The final presentation was to a 1100+ audience and<br />

investors and was judged by Mark Cuban of Shark Tanks and<br />

owner of the Dallas Mavericks himself. My team mate and I won<br />

first place in People's Choice Award, second place in Judge's<br />

Award and a cash prize. Being one of the best experiences of my life,<br />

this taught me everything from how to make a business pitch to<br />

presenting in front of a huge audience to competing with<br />

executives who are already running their businesses. I have got<br />

investors for my business idea at the same stage and the University<br />

is helping me in setting up my business. When other students of<br />

Indian origin were only aiming to be the audience at the event, I<br />

took the initiation to participate and it made all the difference.<br />

Again I can proudly say that BVRIT has prepared me for this. When<br />

I was at BVRIT, I participated in the Microsoft Ideation Contest and<br />

worked on a project sponsored by them at the BVRIT Innovation<br />

Center. So again the roots came from there. When I think of it now, I<br />

remember the famous words by Steve Jobs, “the dots only connect<br />

backwards.”<br />

Just before my graduation, I was awarded with the Student Leader<br />

of the Year Award, the highest and most prestigious award for any<br />

student at the University with a community of more than 30,000<br />

students. The other Indian who has won this Award was Mr. Naveen<br />

Jindal of Jindal Steel in '92. My name was entered into the<br />

University's Hall of Fame.<br />

At the time of writing this post, I have just received job offers from<br />

Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo and SunTrust. I'll start working with<br />

one of them soon.<br />

The reason why I'm telling all these is not boast about myself, but<br />

but to make a point to the reader that one has to take full advantage<br />

of all the opportunities that come across their way to improve<br />

themselves along with studies. And one should never fear to dream<br />

big. Learn to participate, take initiative and try new things.<br />

Whatever be the result, at the end of the day, all you will have is a<br />

wealth of knowledge. Had it not been for my participation, I<br />

would have been a regular student who finished off his Masters<br />

and took up a job.<br />

BVRIT provides you with a waterfall of opportunities. How you<br />

make use of them to be a better person will depend on you. I<br />

believe no other college in AP invests so much time, money and<br />

effort in the ov<strong>era</strong>ll development of students. If not for BVRIT, I<br />

wouldn't have developed this inquisitive nature and willingness<br />

to participate which has brought made all the difference in me.<br />

I believe there is learning everywhere. Not just in books. I get<br />

surprised every time I think about how aptly they have given the<br />

tag line 'Universal Learning' to the Vishnu group.<br />

A continuous quest for knowledge should be the only goal for any<br />

student. You never know how the dots are going to connect. So<br />

keep learning and have fun while doing so.<br />

If you feel that I can help you or guide you with any suggestions or<br />

advice, feel free to drop me an email at pavan.kanteti9@gmail.com<br />

with the subject BVRIT or ping me on Facebook. I'll always be<br />

happy to help my alma mater.<br />

Thank You! Good Luck!

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