By Sri Kiran Ravi Shankar, MBA Candidate

May 31st will be remembered as an important day for the SBI students. We had the opportunity to feel the excitement of Markham’s tremendous growth potential firsthand.

The SBI students received a special invitation to be part of the Mayor Frank Scarpitti’s Annual Business Address and Luncheon; a key networking opportunity in the city, and a chance to hear the Mayor’s vision for the next year. We also met the members of Markham’s governing council, networking with a vibrant business community.

Left to Right – Second year MBA students Kartik Manegar, Dr Jalees Farhan, Jai Kumar Joon, Sri Kiran Ravi Shankar, Akshat Saxena and Saurav Mohapatra with the Mayor Frank Scarpitti.

We had waited for several months for this day, the promise of which all started during our term in Hyderabad when delegates from Markham visited the India campus as part of the Ontario’s Trade Mission to India. During the visit and address at our campus, the Mayor of Markham, Frank Scarpitti, promised to invite students from the India cohort to the annual luncheon to commemorate the progress of Markham.

Kartik Manegar(right), a second year MBA student specializing in Entrepreneurship, meeting business delegates at the event

He delivered! As promised, the Mayor invited the students and a team of Schulich MBA graduates from the India program. It was a great networking opportunity for the students and we were warmly welcomed by the Markham team. The students also had the company of Prof. Theodore Peridis during the event.

As a highlight, the Mayor introduced all the important delegates and thanked them for being there. As he announced the names, each delegate or team stood up and received the welcome of the event’s 500+ audience members.

The Mayor also called upon the Schulich graduates and we received a thunderous applause from the entire crowd for being there! The best part was that the Mayor also jokingly encouraged us students to stay back and try to figure out job opportunities from the business delegates on the mic. This message was received with welcoming smiles among the crowd and gave us a relaxed opening to approach the business leaders of Markham.

Reflecting on the event, I thought it served as a good example of why physical boundaries cease to exist for business professionals who are really determined to make an impact in this world, and a testament to Dean Dezsö J. Horváth’s vision “to extend Schulich’s global footprint.”

This event may have been but one example, but it certainly gave us a taste of feeling welcomed and valued in the Canadian business community.

Photographed above: 

Professor Theodore Peridis(standing in centre) and Schulich MBA students(to his left) Dr. Jalees Farhan, Jai Kumar Joon and Suarav Mohapatra and others from the Markham governing council pose for a quick photograph as they get ready for the event

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About Sri Kiran

I’m a full time student of the MBA in India program graduating 2017 and I am now in Toronto studying throughout the summer. I wanted to write about my experience in Markham because I strongly feel this was a rewarding opportunity opened to us through the Schulich in India program. It was among the most memorable events of the SBI journey for me. We had a great time, and you can find the entire album covering the event posted here.