Passion powers young graduate

Thursday, February 9, 2012

I’m a very fortunate person – I got to spend time at an amazing school that let me learn for myself and pursue the things I enjoy the most. Krannert is a place for people to become whatever they want.

I was accepted into the upper division in the fall of 2009 and graduated spring of 2011. I finished two degrees, a concentration and a certificate, spent two years on the board of directors of a profitable newspaper, and competed in four business competitions that have forever changed my life.

I even had time to have fun outside of all of this, including jumping off of a cliff in Hawaii, building a snowman on a mountain top in Hawaii, and more. I grew not only academically during my time at Krannert, but more importantly, I grew as a person.

My senior year was the highlight of the entire experience. Armed with my ability to analyze businesses (“Porter’s Five Forces” really do matter!), I worked with a team of four amazing people. I was given an opportunity to put my analytical abilities to work in a way I had never imagined.

Our team first identified problems and then used our analytical ability to determine what we could solve. It turned out that denture adhesive was a big problem, because it was creating health problems – neuropathy and digestion problems.

What did we do? Meeting on Friday nights, because that’s when we could get together, we tackled the problem. Combining our technical, analytical, and leadership abilities, we made an all-natural alternative with over 60 percent soy and have filed our provisional patent with Purdue’s help.

We took the top prize in three entrepreneurship competitions and third in another. We traveled to Hong Kong, competing in the PolyU Innovation and Entrepreneurship Global Student Challenge against schools like Princeton, and were still able to finish in first place.

With experience from the competitions, my time on the board of directors of the Purdue Exponent, and the guidance of amazing people, including Judge Les Meade, Michael Cloran and my dad, I landed a position at Nationwide Insurance as an associate in the Financial Leadership Rotational Program.

Employers want passionate people, and Krannert created an environment where I could pursue the things that I am passionate about. I’m very fortunate to have had this opportunity and will forever be grateful to Purdue.

– Ankit Gupta BSM ’11