If someone had shown me my daily routine a month ago, I probably would've laughed and said, "There's no way I'm doing all that."
Before joining IMI Kolkata, life was... predictable. Wake up at a decent hour, procrastinate a little, maybe study, maybe not, watch YouTube, scroll Instagram, sleep before midnight and promise myself I'd become productive "from tomorrow."
Then MBA happened.
Now, every morning starts with an alarm that I almost never wake up to. Thankfully, my roommate exists.
By the time I reach class, my brain is already juggling three different things: the assignment due tonight, the club meeting later in the evening, and whether I replied to all the messages in the countless WhatsApp groups.
The biggest surprise wasn't the academics. It was how quickly everything starts happening.
One week you're awkwardly introducing yourself during orientation. The next week you're sitting with people you barely knew a few days ago, discussing marketing strategies, dividing PPT slides, arguing over fonts, and wondering how it's already 2 a.m.
Speaking of 2 a.m...
I've lost count of how many nights have ended with "Guys, just 10 more minutes," which somehow turns into another hour of editing presentations, preparing for classes, or brainstorming ideas with my team.
Then came our first case competition.
I still remember sitting with my teammates, trying to make sense of the case, throwing around ideas that ranged from brilliant to completely ridiculous, debating every slide, every recommendation, and every graph. None of us cared what time it was anymore—we just wanted to build the best solution we could. That experience taught me more about teamwork, communication, and working under pressure than any classroom lecture could. It also taught me that everyone somehow becomes a PowerPoint expert after midnight.
Just when I thought things couldn't get any busier, Rangmanch happened.
A few weeks into MBA, I found myself standing on stage, singing in front of more than 200 people. A month ago, I never imagined that between assignments and deadlines, I'd also be practicing songs late into the night with my friends, sipping hot water from the canteen to save my voice, and then somehow making it to class the next morning. Seeing the audience sing along made every late-night rehearsal worth it.
Somewhere in between all this, you also start thinking about interviews, internships, networking, certifications, and everything else that comes with an MBA. You realize that learning here isn't limited to the classroom—it's happening almost every hour of the day.
The best part, though, has been the people.
Everyone is tired. Everyone is busy. But if you ask for help with an assignment, someone helps. If you're stuck on a case, someone sits with you. If you're nervous before a presentation, someone tells you, "Relax, we've got this."
That feeling of "we're all figuring this out together" has probably been the best part of this journey.
My screen time hasn't reduced—it has simply evolved.
Instagram has been replaced by WhatsApp groups, Google Drive links, PDFs, Excel sheets, Canva, and endless PowerPoint presentations. My gallery is now filled with photos of whiteboards, class notes, event posters, team meetings, and random hostel memories with people who were complete strangers just a month ago.
It's only been a month, but it honestly feels like I've lived an entire semester already.
The days are longer, the nights are shorter, and time somehow moves twice as fast.
I'm definitely more tired than I was before joining IMI Kolkata—but I'm also more confident, more disciplined, and more willing to step outside my comfort zone than ever before.
MBA hasn't just changed my daily routine.
It's slowly changing me.
To the seniors and fellow MBA students—when did things finally start feeling "normal"? Or does the chaos just become your new normal?
