Rohit Singh (MBA ’23)
There is a famous quote attributed to P.T. Barnum: “Money is a terrible master but an excellent servant.” One of the main reasons I chose to pursue an MBA after six years of working in a manufacturing plant was to learn about corporate investments, portfolio management and other nuances of finance that seemed like jargon every time I read a finance article.
I was privileged to have attended an introduction course on corporate investments in the first semester of my Full-Time MBA journey at Michigan State. Our instructor, assistant professor Morad Zekhnini, had made this class a treat for me with his excellent pedagogy. I always looked forward to this class because it made me think and use my gray matter. Every class started with a discussion on current news related to the topic he was going to discuss. This made the entire class participate and voice their opinion. After listening to the lecture during the rest of class, we could relate to the news that he shared at the start of the class and connect the dots. Generally, we were skeptical that the topic discussed during the class would be applicable in the real world, but the way this subject is taught, we knew that most of the concepts are applicable in real world of finance.
Sometimes it can be tough for people from a non-finance background to grasp the concepts, but having excellent support from the professor made my entire class experience an enriching one. I personally asked many questions during the class to clear my doubts, and the professor answered each question with poise, clarity and subtle humor. I had never thought before coming to MSU that I would be taking finance as one of my majors, but Zekhnini has fostered a deep interest in finance for me.
If given a chance, I would want to attend more lectures by Zekhnini and would recommend readers or prospective students to attend the same. One piece of advice would be to relate current events with whatever is taught in class and ask as many questions as possible, because if you ask more, you learn more.
Happy learning!
