Having recently completed my first semester of my MBA at NYU Stern, I’d like to share a glimpse of my experience to help those who may be curious about the program and take this time to reflect myself.
As with many things in life, the hardest part is usually starting. If you’re embarking on any new endeavor in life and dreading the initial stages, once you get over that initial hump, it will feel much more manageable and less overwhelming. Any change is scary and getting used to it takes courage and patience so stick with it. Just keep swimming.
Since graduating from undergrad at NYU last May, heading back to school to begin this new chapter in January didn’t feel like a massive change compared to some of my peers, many of whom haven’t been in a classroom in years, or even decades. Since the classroom was familiar, this is one of the many reasons why I decided to jump into it earlier than later.
As the name entails, an MBA requires dedication, time management skills, people skills, working under pressure, and focus, to name a few. All these skills and more are emphasized in the program and practiced in different ways.
For the first few semesters, the program begins with a set of core business classes including statistics, accounting, global economy, and leadership. These classes start from the basics so business experience or a finance degree isn’t necessary. Past the core, the elective courses begin which tie to specializations. Similar to majors, specializations are an opportunity for students to choose classes that peak their interest that they want to explore. We have an option of choosing up to 3 specializations based on our elective courses.
As I often say, anything worthwhile won’t be easy, and that’s definitely the case with an MBA. Although the part-time program is designed for full-time working professionals, especially at the start, many times the program felt like full-time. Expect your weekends and late nights to be filled but in rewarding ways!
I can’t promise you won’t pull a few all-nighters! After all, there’s no such thing as work-life balance if you’re trying to get ahead. Accept that work-life balance isn’t always possible, especially at my stage in life in my early twenties.
Net Gain: Networking
A core focus of the MBA program is in the networking and connections you establish. If you’re not willing to attend events, meet new people, embarrass yourself a little, and take advantage of the network, then you’re missing out on most of the value.
As early as applying to college, we hear the term, ‘networking’ thrown around but many students don’t seem to follow through with it and stick with their groups.
But the real world isn’t high school. Get to know as many people across industries as possible no matter what field you’re in. If you’re looking to become an entrepreneur, this is most important as you want to expose yourself to people from all walks of life. Not only to establish possible customers or users but to build a solid team and understand how you can create the greatest product hearing a wide range of perspectives.
Building connections is an investment, not a transaction.
The goal of networking is to keep in touch, not meet someone once and DM them on LinkedIn asking to put in a good word or send their resume across. People like to help those they like and developing relationships takes time, effort, energy and patience.
It’s a small world so keeping relationships is worthwhile when you realize the massive ROI it can have when an opportunity opens up or you need a hand and someone remembers your name.
Ultimately, I see a network as an insurance policy that no amount of money can buy. It’s an asset and requires capital to tap into a network. From the MET Gala to an MBA, it comes with a price. Just like an MBA, it takes work, patience, coordination, and a lot of time to build relationships. But it’s never a waste of time.
For a while, I thought any free time I had needed to be filled with more work but that didn’t get me far when I was always feeling exhausted and burning out. Since January, I shifted my mindset to taking the time to build connections instead and it’s already paid off tremendously.
Connections give life meaning and purpose, and I really started to dig into that in the program. Meeting up for coffee with someone is the best medicine for your soul, mind, spirit, productivity, and potentially net-worth down the line. You just never know where one connection can lead you in or outside of an MBA.
Under Pressure
Since freshman year of high school, I’ve worked some type of part-time job on the side. From tutoring to tennis coaching, I’ve dabbled with it all. But no matter how many roles I’ve held on top of school, an MBA was an entirely new experience for me.
I learned a lot about myself and how I work under pressure. Since my pet peeve is procrastination, prioritizing what’s most urgent and delaying things has always been tough for me. And since starting, I had no choice but to manage my time, energy, work, social life, full-time job, finances, blogging, and everything in between much more efficiently. As a result, despite being more busy and days filled with either work or school Monday through Sunday, I feel less overwhelmed, constrained, and ironically more balanced since I have extra focus on what needs to be done instead of multitasking around.
What You Put In Is What You Get Out
As with pretty much anything, what you put in is what you get out. In this MBA program, you definitely get out of your comfort zone fast and learn to explore, meet fascinating people from all walks of life, and join a unique community looking to advance together.
We all know what we signed up for and are ready to be challenged. Even with different goals and at opposite stages of life, one commonality is the desire to advance and seize our potential.
Going to business school straight out of undergrad, there were many waves of imposter syndrome and feelings of inadequacy not having years of full-time work experience under my belt.
Howevever after listening to others’ stories and career paths, I realized that everyone has different journeys and we’re all here for a reason. Some are nurses, lawyers, took time off or want to jump back into the workforce. A few are like me, fresh from undergrad and others just want to take a break after grinding for twenty years and feel lost.
Deciding between an MBA is a personal decision and investment. It isn’t something that’s decided overnight when feeling frustrated with your salary range or lack of passion. It won’t guarantee anything either but it will give you a memorable enriching experience, ideally make your life easier down the road, and allow you to experience something that only those willing to put in the work will discover.
Hidden Clues of Success
When you think of your role models, or those you look up to as idols, there’s no doubt they had focus and drive to accomplish their goals.
Following what you excel at instead of just your sheer passion — unless you discover innate talent early on — is the best predictor of success and will keep you going for the long run.
It’s not a sprint, but a marathon, and all those hundreds of hours of practice and work behind the scenes don’t seem to go anywhere until you cross the finish line and realize how much support you’ve built for yourself.
Building connections is arguably the easy part, but keeping them and having people vouch for you and remember your name when you’re not in the room takes practice and skill.
It’s a small world, and many times those that make it to the top get there because of a few things:
- Luck
- Timing
- Connections
- Patience
- People/soft skills (personality)
People don’t remember you for what you say; it’s how you make them feel. Helping people feel heard and good takes practice and can help make you successful anywhere.
The Best Gift in Life is Giving
Another thing to remember is that the best gift in life is giving. Giving back your time to help, teach, share, and just listen helps in unexpected ways. Not only does it make you feel better inside, but it also creates moments of opportunity for people who want to help out and keep in touch.
An MBA is so much more than getting a business degree. It opens doors, allows you to learn more about yourself and others, and what it takes to be an inspiring business leader today.
If you want to get anywhere in life, you have to become comfortable with the uncomfortable and deal with rejection often. The best practice for that is to take calculated risk and action.
A Few Things I Learned About Myself This Semester
As promised, here’s my mini reflection from the semester. As I recently began last week my summer semester, I hope to carry on these lessons with me and continue sharing what I’ve learned throughout my journey:
- I enjoy taking on leadership roles and organizing groups— I ran for block leader and several coordinated events/meet-ups with my cohort.
- I work better under pressure as opposed to having just a few things to do.
- I want to explore many fields, not just stay rigid within fintech or banking/consulting.
- Learning is a process, not a destination.
- Failure, experimentation, and making mistakes are necessary to grow.
Taking on any adventure and pursuit is scary but worthwhile in the end. Sacrifice brings appreciation after all! I’m excited for this next chapter and beyond!
For anyone interested in the program and want to learn more, feel free to reach out here or on LinkedIn.