As the days grow sunnier, it means many graduate students will begin the long march to the convocation stage later this year. Each year different students take on a number of leadership roles in the Schulich community that have a direct impact on the quality of experience each grad student has during their time here.
This interview series will provide insight about students’ extracurricular leadership, professional achievements, and personal reflections.
– Frank Paul, Graduate Business Council President, MBA candidate, 2017
Class of 2017 Profile: Meet Sakshi Kanda, MBA Candidate
Part 1: Quick Stats
Age: 25
Hometown: Brampton, Ontario
Undergraduate School and Degree: York University – Biomedical Science and English
Community Work and Leadership Roles: Women In Leadership Mentor, MBA Games Organizing Committee, VP of Women in Capital Markets (Schulich Investment Banking Club), Schulich Finance Case Team (MBA Games)
Fun fact: My dog, Buzo, is obsessed with me (and I’m equally fanatical about my fluffy four-legged child)
Part 2: Business Education & Achievements
Q: Where did you work before coming to Schulich?
A: I worked in private education, in Program Development.
Q: Why did you choose Schulich?
A: The school’s reputation. I went to York for my undergraduate degree with people who were in the BBA program and they would always speak very highly of Schulich.
Q: Where will you be working after graduation?
A: TD Securities, Investment Banking
Q: Which achievement are you most proud of in your career to date?
A: I developed the math curriculum for a start-up education company I was working for. I started the program from scratch without much guidance. It taught me to have faith in myself and believe that I would figure it out – one way or another.
Q: Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during your MBA?
A: Winning the Women in Capital Markets Scholarship set the stage for my journey at Schulich and catapulted my career in a direction that I had never imagined.
Q: What did you enjoy most about Schulich?
A: The friends, many of whom feel like family now.
Q: What was the most surprising thing about your MBA?
A: How safe I felt taking risks, and how supportive, accessible and understanding the professors are.
Q: What was the hardest part of your MBA?
A: Acclimating to group work with people who you haven’t worked with before. When you don’t know your group members’ strengths and weaknesses, it’s a little tougher to delegate work – but you really can’t do it all on your own at Schulich. You just have to have faith that people will deliver.
Q: Who would you most want to thank for your success?
A: My father. He has always been so supportive of me, no matter what I pursue. He’ll tell me the things I don’t want to hear when I’m in a tough spot, but he’ll also give me the words of encouragement I need when I feel like I can’t go on.
Q: What’s your best advice to a Schulich applicant?
A: Stay true to who you are. Don’t forget what your values are, no matter what you choose to pursue in your academic life or professional career.
Part 3: Fill in the Blank…
“I knew I wanted to go to business school when…”
Sakshi: …I realized I knew very little about business. I had studied everything else from chemistry and physics to English and philosophy. This was the one field I knew next to nothing about.
“If I hadn’t gone to business school, I would…”
Sakshi: …be pursuing an entrepreneurial project in the education sector.
Part 4: Fast Favourites
Stay tuned for more profiles of the Schulich class of 2017!
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