Shedding My Skin
Every cell in the human body regenerates, each given another chance to live and to grow. Like snakes, we too shed our skin, and biologically we are brand new! Why am I telling you this? Because getting into grad school after 9 years is nothing less than another chance at life.
Early life-
Hi! My name is Neha Singh Rajpurohit, and I am currently a full-time Product Management (MSPM) student at Tepper. I am originally from a small town in Rajasthan, India called Bikaner. Also known as the “land of kings” – famous for its vibrant folk dance and music, gigantic forts and palaces, colorful turbans, mouthwatering delicacies, and extensive golden sand desert.
As a kid, I was a sports enthusiast. I grew up playing team sports like basketball, where I played for my high school, and enjoyed riding horses. Additionally, I practiced martial arts for 10 years, playing in various state and national tournaments before getting my black belt degree. Apart from sports, I volunteered as a cadet for the National Cadet Corps (youth wing of Indian armed forces), where I focused on social services, discipline, and adventure training.
The professional journey so far-
Sports and volunteering have taught me a lot about the importance of teamwork and have made me more empathetic toward others. This has helped me in my professional journey. I graduated in Computer Science and Engineering from India and worked for several years in the eCommerce space building cloud-based commerce solutions for global leaders in the steel manufacturing, healthcare, apparel, and home appliance industries. I initially started my career as a software developer and was enjoying the ‘HOW’ a product is developed part, but the curiosity around ‘WHY’ are we doing this led me to move towards the business side. Before coming to this program, I led the eCommerce track for Bosch-Siemens Home Appliances, managing seven product teams from India.
How did I get here-
While I was working towards getting on the PM ladder, I realized the need to learn the nuances of product management from scratch and I truly believed that learning in the classroom can be way more meaningful when you have professional experiences to relate and connect back to. I was specifically looking for a one-year program with a structured curriculum around product and business skills. There are still not many programs out there yet that focus on this need. Luckily, I came across the MSPM (Masters in Product Management) program jointly offered by CMU’s School of Computer Science and the Tepper School of Business. This program is designed specifically to keep the needs of the product management industry in mind. It provides an efficient and effective path to product management success by exposing students to a summer internship and capstone experience in 12 months, along with meaningful coursework. Coming into this program having shed my skin, I can’t wait for my new self to take on the world as a refined PM! Stay tuned for my next blog post, to learn about my summer internship experience and learnings at Amazon HQ in Seattle.
At Tepper, she is pursuing her Masters in Product Management while serving as Student Ambassador and Marketing VP for the MSPM program.
Neha is a trained martial artist who loves riding horses and motorbikes and has an avid interest in wildlife photography.
- Celebrating Diwali- MSPM way! - November 1, 2022
- Shedding My Skin - October 27, 2022
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