I have been struggling for find the words to write this latest entry (as shocking as it may be, as I never seem to shut up!) At first it was easy, I didn't have much to do, and had so much going on. Everything was fun, there was no alarm set for the mornings. I could go run, drink, play and anything else I wanted. I knew that would not last.
The Manchester MBA starts with a Pre-MBA, or as the seniors (2012 batch) tell us, "A time to party, cuz you won't be busy yet!" The skills are a refresher for some, and brand new for many others. Pretty much, we are cramming a semesters worth of accounting into 4 classes, learning how to work on consultancy skills, learning presentation skills, and any thing else that we may or may not need to help us over the next 18 months. After the "easy" month, the actual MBA program will start. Only if the Pre-MBA were easy.
Now, the learning side (aside from the chapters about chapters of the 7(so far) text books we have received) has not been too bad at all. Some of it I fight to stay awake, but most of it I am enjoying. But the challenge is the amount of information we are receiving right now. Class starts at 9 am, and we have four 1 hour 30 minute sessions every day (this is how the term will look when we start in 2 more weeks.) Then after that, we tend to have a presentation from an external speaker, or a group project, or another group project, or more reading to do. It seems that being at school from 9am - 9pm is going to be the norm for the next bit of time in my life. But as I have said before, I am excited for that!
I came here to challenge myself. In every aspect of the word. I came here to prove to myself that I can succeed in the academic world. High school and college were about doing enough to get bye. This is about doing more than that, and then more than that. I know I am not as smart as a lot of the people here. I have already seen the millions of ways I would have never thought to solve a problem come up. I have so much to learn from the 114 other colleagues that are going on this journey as well. And it is an amazing bunch to learn from, I can already tell that.
For me, my path to success is a simple one. When you get an MBA, you don't really talk about your GPA, or anything of the sort. You simply state, I got one, and look where it is from! This school is ranked well! I'm a good hire! But ultimately, everyone has a goal of passing, otherwise they wouldn't be here. I know I will pass, simply because when I accomplish my goal, it will never be in doubt. All I am trying to do, as simple as it sounds, is work harder than my Indians friend sitting next to me in class, or the Brazilians and Peruvians and everyone else in the room. And I hope they have the same goal! If I put in the effort, and work harder than I have every worked before - which I can already tell, I will have to - I should be just fine. This is the way I am going to learn, better myself, and prepare for the next stage of my life.
I am excited to do this with my colleagues though. While I want to work harder than them, I also want to work with them, learn from them, and hopefully share some of my views/opinions/thoughts/experiences. And hopefully they can learn from that too. Now I recognize not all here, or in the world, feel that way. And neither of us are wrong in our views. I know what works for me, and they, I can only imagine, know what works for them. At the end of the program, we will embark on a 3 month international business project. I have already started identifying the people I am not as keen to work with. Not because they are not smart, but because of how they work. I hope to find, or be asked on a team, that values working together, and with a shared passion, and we will kick major ass in the project.
I found myself getting frustrated at some of our early project meetings. It seemed that we were spinning our wheels, and time is not an asset we can afford to waste. But when I got away from the meetings, I realized I was a big part of the problem. While I was hearing what people said, I wasn't listening. In the next meeting, after starting to get frustrated, I sat back, and calmly asked the most basic question - why? Why do you think that? Why should we include that? Just simply, Why? Turns out we had been talking about the same, or similar ideas. But I never took the chance to listen. I just heard what they said, in a second language, not what they meant. I am damn happy I realized that early on!
We have been fortunate enough to have a lot of exposure, guidance and advice from the seniors, and even other alumni. If anyone else is ever embarking on a journey of the sort, my one peace of advice is listen very carefully to what they say is helpful, and ignore any negative. I have heard from so many people about 'How to Survive my MBA.' But that answers the wrong question. I want to know 'How to Enhance my MBA.' We all knew this would be a challenge, telling me so isn't going to make it different. I want to know that it is a good idea to establish set ending times for the meetings, not that they go on all night. I want to know how to get the most out of the clubs I join, not how to fit them into my schedule. I know I will work hard, I want to know how to organize myself, how to plan better, time management. But that message, unfortunately, does not seem to be the one I have heard as much. I know it is going to be hard, but don't try to damage my spirits before I have even started.
Part of enhancing my MBA is going to be the things I do outside of the classroom. I have already been playing football (soccer), plan on joining some clubs, act as a student ambassador for those wanting to follow in our footsteps, and anything else that frankly, interest me to some degree. Next April we will be traveling to Paris for a sports competition weekend with top B-Schools across Europe. We have different theme nights, poker club, and what seems like anything else you could think of. And I want to do it all! Well, as much as I have time for.
With that being said, this post will most likely be one of the more interesting ones to look back and read in 18 months time. I have barely dipped my toe into the water. But the pool is deep, and it is getting close for time to jump in. But I can swim. I have my floaties - enthusiasm, passion, everything put into my calendar, all homework assignments mapped out and a focus on time management. From what I can tell, from talking to classmates, these are the tools, not to survive, but to succeed, and enhance and MBA. Maybe it is naivety talking, maybe not, but either way, I am ready for the challenge.
