Why joining student clubs and events can complete your ESMT experience

At ESMT the learning experience extends beyond the classroom. Our student clubs and events are a perfect example: not only are they a fantastic way to meet new people, they can be a place to practice the organizational and networking skills that employers demand.

Inside ESMT’s student clubs and events with Punit Thakkar

In this article, Student Services Community Coordinator and Full-time MBA Student Punit Thakkar, Class of 2026, shares his student event highlights, and explains why joining an extracurricular activity can make your ESMT experience extra memorable.

Hi Punit, please introduce yourself

Hello, I am Punit Thakkar, a Full-time MBA student at ESMT Berlin. I’m an engineer, marketer, AI consultant, and aspiring entrepreneur who challenges himself across disciplines and geographies.

I come to Berlin from India, where I spent ten years in business management, marketing, and sales. I also spent several years training workforces on adapting technology and AI. 

In my free time, I love writing and have been consistently publishing one poem a week on my poetry newsletter for more than five years. Through my writing, I’ve built a global community of more than 1000 readers.

What went into your decision to choose the Full-time MBA at ESMT?

I have spent my life aiming to learn excellence from leaders. ESMT is located at the heart of Europe’s transformation into an integrated and modern economy. The leaders of the university even influence decision-making in Germany and Brussels, as events like the Berlin Global Dialogue demonstrate. Senior decision-makers come regularly to talk to students at the university. The university’s building is steeped in history, too, as it used to be the headquarters of the DDR Government. 

This makes it a center of power like no other. By being here, I get to learn excellence from world leaders who steer the future. That is why I chose ESMT, and I am glad to share that it has proven me right.

What is your favorite thing about living and studying in Berlin?

Berlin's rich, complex, and varied history has made it a canvas on which history has been painted. Especially after the second World War, the only continent in the world to be divided along Western and Soviet lines was Europe, the only country to be divided similarly was Germany, and the only city to be divided in that way was Berlin. 

It is a city that wears the lessons of this history proudly, through several memorials and through its architecture. 

It is also here in Berlin that one finds great art, great music, great public spaces, and beautiful winters and summers. I spent most of my days hanging out at a park or by the canals. It really is a city worth pouring yourself into.

You are the Student Services Community Coordinator. What is this like and how did you secure this position?

“The Student Services Community Coordinator role is the most fulfilling position that I’ve held in my career.”

The Student Services Community Coordinator role is the most fulfilling position that I’ve held in my career. My primary objective as part of the role is to act as a bridge between the student community and the administration. I manage activities like event planning, execution, community creation, and stakeholder management. Seeing a smile on a fellow student’s face because of the work I do is the biggest reward for my efforts.

Securing the role was a straightforward process – the Student Services Office at ESMT posted a job advertisement on campus for this role, I applied and went through a couple of interviews to share my ideas for how I would execute the role. The team was happy with the conversations and soon I had an offer!

What kind of events and initiatives do you help organize?

I created the Bergfest, a new monthly event series, where students from across the university gather to hang out and enjoy fun conversations. We even went hiking, canoeing, and clubbing as part of the Bergfest, and students now highlight the Bergfest as an essential monthly ritual to connect and bond with others across the campus.

In addition, I have also helped organize the ESMT Olympics, a one-day sport event where the University welcomes its students, staff, and alumni to come together and compete across multiple sports and activities. 

I also helped organize the ESMT Nachbarschaftsfest, a one-day neighborhood festival organized at the ESMT garden where people from around the neighborhood come together to enjoy food, drinks, enjoyable performances, and insightful conversations.

What has been your favorite event or initiative so far?

“I felt an amazing energy of collaboration and cross-pollination in this event as it brought together people from such diverse backgrounds and interests.”

My favorite event at ESMT was the Climate Hackathon, an event organized by the Net Impact Club and the Tech & Innovation Club at ESMT in February 2026. The hackathon brought ESMT students together with external participants like researchers and engineers, to create a solution to the problem of renovating buildings in Berlin. I felt an amazing energy of collaboration and cross-pollination in this event as it brought together people from such diverse backgrounds and interests.

The solutions presented by the teams were practical and implementable, and the most impressive outcome of the event was that everyone who participated ended up submitting a solution, making this the only hackathon I’ve been to with a 100% completion rate. 

What do you like the most about the student clubs at ESMT?

The student clubs at ESMT are truly student-led, with a high level of autonomy and ownership given to students. Staff has little input aside from guidance and advice provided when needed – apart from that, the students run the show. 

The clubs have their internal organizational structures with leads and members and are self-governing. Being in a club like this provides students with an opportunity to really experience what it is like to run projects in a real company with a budget, deadlines, and team members to manage. 

This true-to-life nature of the clubs which allows students to develop into professionals while also having some fun is what I like the most about the student clubs at ESMT.

What is your favorite memory of your time helping the student clubs?

It’s most definitely organizing the Club Fair! Each year in September when the new master’s (MSc) cohorts join ESMT, the Student Services office organizes the Club Fair. It is an important event for the clubs as they get to attract the people who will become the next generation of club members, and an important event for the new students to find something that matches their interests and aspirations. 

When I was planning the arrangements for the fair in 2025, I asked the club leads what they wanted, and they said they wanted more visibility and engagement from this club fair. To allow for this, I arranged for a bigger venue and added fun elements to the club fair experience like a club quiz and a wheel of fortune where students could try their luck. These interventions helped the fair feel more alive and active, and both the club representatives and attending students gave us great feedback on the results. 

It proved so successful that we repeated this experience for the club fair in January 2026 for when the new Full-time MBA cohort joined. The fulfillment of helping students find a new way to engage with the clubs at ESMT made it memorable for me.

What can a student do to find a community at ESMT? How can they increase their social and networking opportunities with their cohort?

“Events like the Bergfest provide a great way for ESMT students across cohorts to get together in a worry-free, relaxed environment and get to know each other a lot better!”

There are several ways for students to find a community at ESMT. The first and foremost is making use of the amenities provided on campus – from playing table tennis, to foosball, to chess, or going to the student lounge or the information center. Students are bound to find people with shared interests in these spaces.

Additionally, they can attend several club activities like hackathons, venture meets, or fireside chats. These events are usually fully attended and have space and time for networking and chit-chatting afterwards.

Finally, events like the Bergfest provide a great way for ESMT students across cohorts to get together in a worry-free, relaxed environment and get to know each other a lot better!

What advice would you give to someone who is unsure about how to balance the demands of study with the social side of ESMT?

In my personal experience balancing the demands of study with the social side of ESMT, I had the following three realizations which could serve as advice:

1. The social events at ESMT are planned and scheduled very well by organizers, and a lot of thought goes into ensuring that events are not overlapping with heavy days like examinations or project submissions as far as possible. So, trust the system.
2. Engaging with the social side and meeting people ends up providing you with the refreshment that enables you to study better.
3. Being completely consumed by studies and not engaging with social activities is in fact detrimental to one’s ability to get the most out of a business degree, as a large part of business is how you present yourself and engage with people. Learning how to open up to others and present yourself to people in a low-stakes environment like a social event at ESMT is thus one of the biggest parts of the whole academic experience!

Do you have any general tips for someone thinking about applying to ESMT? 

The most important part of the application is to introspect and to be honest. You just need to present your true self and be upfront about what you know and what you don’t, be it about yourself, your aspirations, or your blind spots.

In my own application, I shared the things I wanted to achieve, but I was also very open about the things I was unsure about. That honesty really helped shape meaningful subsequent conversations. 

Thank you, Punit!

If you would like to hear more about Punit’s MBA experiences – or see more of his writing – you can follow him on LinkedIn.