Michael McLaughlin, MBA’14, contributed this post.

Students cite many factors as having an effect on their decision about which business school to attend: future earning power, quality of the alumni network, faculty research, etc. Not surprisingly, most students do not cite a YouTube video as having played a key role in their decision.

But most students are nothing like Abhishek Chakravarty.

Abhi Chakravarty

Growing up in one of the poorest areas of India, where the literacy rate is only 29%, Abhishek saw first-hand what it means for people to live below the poverty line. When Abhishek was in primary school, he noticed one day that a good friend had stopped attending class. He visited her home to find out whether she was sick, but found that she would never be attending school again.

Her family had decided it was time for her to go to work in the fields. The young girl was just 12 years old.

Abhishek was distraught. How could her education simply be over? She had been one of smartest students in the entire class. What choice or say did she have in her future?

Years later, Abhishek’s education and professional pursuits led him to the U.S. As he was evaluating admission offers from several MBA programs this past year, he came across a video on YouTube.

The video was of a man laying in a hammock in the courtyard of Simon Hall at Olin Business School.

That man was me, Michael McLaughlin. I was talking about the importance of people coming together to help children. I was in the hammock to promote an upcoming 2,500-mile hike to help raise awareness for underprivileged kids. It was then that Abhishek decided to apply to Olin.

Today, Abhishek is a first-year student in the Olin MBA program, with a summer internship waiting in the wings and a successful future on the horizon. But he has not forgotten his roots, and he is working diligently with Michael and other students to ensure that all children get the chance to have a bright future.

Abhishek is currently organizing a concert to raise awareness for underprivileged children, which will take place on February 20 at 4:00 in May Auditorium of Simon Hall.

We are calling the movement Unite4Kids, and while we are currently concentrating on helping children locally, Abhishek plans to take the movement to India as well. The Unite4Kids motto is, “we CAN change the world.”

Yes, Abhishek. With people like you on board, we certainly can.