My name is Keerthi Chetty and I am pursuing my MBA full time at UMass Boston.
I am an international student from India and plan to pursue a mix of specializations in core and internet marketing.
‘Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.’
An engineer who ended up in technology marketing in pursuit of her true professional calling, I have always had an unconventional take on life. And like Robert Frost’s eponymous protagonist, it has taken some enterprising courage to get so far.
A tepid academic performance in undergrad spurred me to look beyond a conventional career trajectory and I soon branched out of engineering after finishing college. I worked in hi-tech marketing for 3 years in India before the MBA and gained experience in corporate communications, brand and product marketing, digital marketing, account management and business development. I had also handled some part-time consulting projects in marketing strategy for technology startups in Mumbai. I used to primarily advertise to international clients across USA, Europe, and Asia and gradually realized that a North American MBA program with strong marketing focus was the next logical step!
I chose UMass Boston since the program offered excellent structure, flexibility and focused course options under various concentrations. I also work as a Research Assistant with the College of Management in the field of information systems.
The past 7 months have been nothing short of a dream coming true. The experience of settling into a new home in a new country, forging new relationships – on the professional as well as personal front – and taking in the new academic system has been exhilarating. I have never done so much homework before! The small class size, focused attention from course instructors and knowledgeable peers make for a very satisfying experience.
On the cultural front, I find myself liking the people around me. My peers at the university and Bostonians in general are always courteous. The fact that I get to interact with people of many nationalities on any given day never escapes my notice and always has me in awe. In fact this makes for some very unique collaborations in group assignments! I particularly remember my MBAMGT 650 project group wherein I had peers from 3 different countries in a 5-member group and it took us a couple of meetings to just get a hang of each other’s accents! But I later went onto growing respect to the very same people for their work ethics, subject matter expertise and geniality. The world is indeed a very interesting place and we stand to gain much from each other’s cultural perspectives.
My typical day starts with cooking and getting the house in order. I then try to catch some exercise either at the Beacon Fitness Center on campus or at a gym close to home. I live close to the Boston Harbor Walk and now that the winter shows signs of relenting, I plan to catch up on outdoors running!
I have taken 4 classes this semester, 3 on-campus and 1 online. The on-campus classes run Tuesdays to Thursdays every week and I also work on my research on these days. In short, I don’t get to catch my breath 3 out of 7 days every week. On a lighter note, this also affords me an extra-long weekend. All my classes are in the evenings, so I catch up on work in the afternoons and attend lectures in the evening. After-class hours are usually reserved for winding down and introspection. As digital enthusiast, I spend a lot of time surfing online.
I like to indulge in numerous personal hobbies, from travelling and photography to cooking and watching movies. I have also been able to travel extensively up the east coast and have covered Boston, New York, Washington DC and Philly in the past 7 months. The fact that Boston has a rich history thrills the traveler in me. I believe in living it up every day!
The marketing domain has suited my extroverted personality well and has provided a perfect outlet to exercise innate curiosity, dynamism, creativity, analytical abilities and aggression. By studying under a global faculty and by collaborating with international peers, I hope to gain the right kind of exposure and groom myself for the globalized workplace of tomorrow.
With a cohesive experience like this, the dots of my professional life will connect together and prepare me for the future. I expect the journey to mold me for future challenges. It’s time to grow ahead. It’s time to get to better places career-wise with the UMass Boston MBA.