SP JAIN GLOBAL BLOGS

My name is Aarav Saxena, I’m a second-year student pursuing a bachelor’s degree in data science at SP Jain School of Global Management. With the ever-changing world of the internet, the skill of taking theoretical education and applying it in the real world is what makes students stand out. SP Jain School of Global Management's Bachelor of Data Science (BDS) course revolves around that with practical experience, and hackathons are at the center of it.

This journey so far has been nothing short of transformational — shaped by roots, resilience, and a relentless drive to grow. 

I began my academic journey in Sagar, Karnataka, at St. Joseph's English Medium School. I then attended pre-university at Alvas, Moodbidri, and received a B.Com from Poornaprajna College, Udupi (Mangalore University). I also pursued a diploma in Air Transport Fundamentals from IATA, driven by a lifelong passion for aviation.

When you start an Executive MBA, people warn you about the long nights, the group projects, and the fact that your calendar will start looking like it needs a project manager of its own. And sure, there’s some truth to that. But what they don’t tell you and what surprised me is how quickly your thinking evolves. You stop seeing problems as tasks and start seeing them as opportunities. Even my manager noticed a shift (and not just because my emails got less aggressive).

Stepping into EY as an intern in the TAX – International Tax and Transaction Services (ITTS) – Transfer Pricing function was more than just an industry experience—it was an eye-opening journey into the intricate world of international taxation. My project, “Benchmarking in Advisory”, placed me at the intersection of financial analysis, compliance, and strategic advisory, where every detail mattered.

 It is overwhelming to enter the world of AI with the rise of competition in the field. When I first joined SP Jain School of Global Management, I was under the impression that acquiring coding skills would be enough for me to land a job in the data science sector.But it was later, when I interacted with my seniors and professors, that I realised that soft skills and technical skills both hold equal importance to enter the tech world.

I have always learned best by applying concepts in real time. Coming from a background in Financial Markets and transitioning into the world of Ad Tech, I quickly realised the importance of solidifying my foundational knowledge in management, marketing, and strategy. As the Ad Tech landscape evolves rapidly, stepping away from work for a full-time program did not seem practical. However, an Executive MBA (EMBA) felt like the right fit; that is how I enrolled in the EMBA program at SP Jain Global.

Coming from a Commerce background, and then transitioning into the world of data and technology wasn’t easy at first—but it turned out to be one of the best decisions I made. I still remember the nervous excitement I felt when I opened my first Python file or wrote my first SQL query. It was all new, but I was eager to learn.

One of the greatest strengths of SP Jain Global’s Undergraduate and Postgraduate programs is that we don’t confine learning to four walls. With campuses across Sydney, Singapore, Mumbai, and Dubai, our students experience a truly global education—not just by attending classes but through Global Learning and Student Life that bring life, culture, and careers into focus.

When it comes to pursuing a course like data science, the first word that instinctively pops up in our mind is ‘coding’. This was my first thought too, right until the first day. As the semester progressed, it soon become clear that this course is not just about the code – my first year was a journey brimming with discovering hidden potentials and enriching skills that not only helped me develop my coding abilities, but also helped prepare me for the corporate world.