By: Marissa Burkett, Audio/Visual Editor
Das Tor would like to congratulate the winners of the 2015 Fall Thunderbird Student Government Elections! Voting wrapped up on Wednesday, April 22, with 43% student turnout in the polls. Meet your new student leadership:
Photo courtesy: Chandra Mouli Koduri
TSG President, Kaladhar Rachabathuni
I am true Thunderbird at heart – always looking for challenges and exploring new things. I guess I followed the same principal in my career. I have multiple industry and field experiences prior to Thunderbird. My undergraduate degree is in Engineering but that career was short-lived as I discovered that the entrepreneur zeal in me was strong. It grew from a small venture, Chain of Food Stalls, which quickly grew. During this period, I also started to take leadership responsibility within my family’s textile business. As my responsibilities grew, I decided to pursue an MBA to enhance my skills in all management aspects. And as I am considering a global expansion for my family business, I decided Thunderbird is the ideal place!
What kind of changes would you like to see made in your term?
In this era of change, it is up to us to sustain the unique Thunderbird culture as a knowledge enterprise within ASU.
My main focus is:
- Strive towards a stable and sustainable relationship between Thunderbird and ASU. The merger is complete but there are lot of processes still in transition. TSG plays a pivotal role in the smooth and successful collaboration on several fronts – academic, cultural, student life.
- Stabilize the new liaisons between the TSG (Thunderbird Student Government) and GPSA (Graduate Professional Student Association at the Arizona State University), ensuring Tbirds have access to a wider range of benefits.
- Establish ways for TSG to be easily accessible to everyone on campus and address the grievances of students more effectively. Once my team is in place this will be one of the first things we will be focusing on.
- Act as the bridge between Thunderbird and ASU Management and the Student Body. Strive to reduce any communication gaps.
- Uphold the Thunderbird Mystique through various activities and initiatives on-campus, to communicate the Mystique effectively to the future Thunderbirds.
What do you love most about Thunderbird?
What’s not to love about Thunderbird? The campus, lectures, professors and life at Thunderbird; it is the best. But most of all, my passion for Thunderbird is because of the people, and the amazing T-bird community. Being an expat I was a little anxious initially when I was moving to the States, but at Thunderbird I feel at home. My exposure to global cultures has been mind-blowing and I am proud to say that I have friends all over the world. How cool is that!
At this point, I would like to share an interesting conversations with you. Over the winter break, I met a friend who is doing his MBA in one of the Ivy League Colleges in the East. Over our discussion, he was quite amazed that I knew everyone in my class. He told me that it has been six months and he has not spoken to more than half of his class. In fact I am sure I know at least 80% of the people on campus.
This is the beauty of Thunderbird and that is what I love about it. We are THUNDERBIRDS, we are family and true global citizens.
Sandeep Patil
Vice President, Sandeep Patil
I am a First Year MBA student graduating in December 2015. I earned my Bachelor of Computer Science and Masters of Management Studies with specialization in Marketing in India and have extensive professional experience in Product Development and Marketing.
What kind of changes would you like to see made in your term?
Priorities during my term are:
- Increased access to ASU or other resources and opportunities.
- Create professional and personal development opportunities by collaborating with administration, departments, faculty, etc.
- Maintain Thunderbird identity/mystique/autonomy while finding balance during this time of adjustment
- To ensure minimal disruption to student’s academic and social and cultural life.
What do you love most about Thunderbird?
As the address says, Thunderbird is truly a ‘#1 Global Place’.
After coming to Thunderbird I realized that World is really a small place. Thunderbird is much more than a graduation schools, it’s a community of closely bonded global citizens.