Sriram Ramani Scholarship Essay
Thunderbird MBA Fall 2011
Please explain why you believe that you would be a strong candidate for a Thunderbird Scholarship.
If you know the name of the scholarship for which you would like to be considered, please include
this in your essay. If you are unsure, Thunderbird will match your profile to scholarship funds that are
available for you.
Your answer MUST be under one page in length.
Bangalore is an emerging economic center in India. It faces challenge of quantity like any other emerging
economic center in the east. Some of them include scores of citizens migrating from rural areas to find better
opportunities, traffic congestion due to increasing number of vehicles, construction of infrastructure etc. As a
result, a person takes an hour to travel 15kms across the city on an average. I travel to work everyday on the
bustling streets of Bangalore. However, I manage to travel 35kms in an hour. I take the most optimized route
to reach my destination. Use of GPS is uncommon here; people generally rely on their memory to find the
routes. I analyze the roads in a systematic way to arrive at a route where in there is less traffic congestion and
fewer distance to travel. Optimizing and managing effectively is in my blood.
The mutual funds companies advertize themselves that they churn up a 35% returns in the Indian Investment
Market. However, they fluctuate based on the market conditions and often disappoint. However, the
Government securities perform consistently at lower risk. The analogy of the Government securities holds
good to me as well. I have been a consistent performer all through out my academic years. In school, I always
stood in top 5. I have even won the best student award. My undergrad GPA is 3.96 on a scale of 4. I believe
in giving consistent returns on the time invested by the Professor in class each day. I make sure I learn the
concepts on a day to day basis taught in the class. This helps me to be better prepared for the next class.
Equipping myself with the knowledge of the previous class helps me talk and interact about different topics
with the Professor as well as the students of the class. I go the extra mile that many don’t.
My capital asset is my thought process. I believe no matter what ups and downs I face, I keep thinking for the
better. I believe thinking is progress and non-thinking is stagnation. During my professional experience, I
made some sincere efforts to improve the ways of working of my team and my associates. From drawing
learning from other’s experiences, sharing of knowledge, implementing quality techniques, process
improvement to performance tuning, I have ensured that I put my head to it for better results.
I initiated small study circles in my college which encouraged senior students to help the junior students in
learning and technical assistance in project work. This was because, it was difficult for the professor to
provide assistance to every student in the college on a one-on-one basis due to lack of time. I took up small
group of 3-4 students and taught them complicated concepts of Mechanical Engineering. I would ask for their
requirement and help them learn the concepts. I also took regular feedbacks to improve the circle. These
Thunderbird. The scholarship provided by Thunderbird will not only help me financially, but also motivate me
to perform better.