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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!