Benjamin Franklin had said, "An investment in knowledge pays the best interest."
Firsts are always memorable. While appearing for my first job interview, I was asked, “Where do you see yourself five years down the line?” this was when the idea of doing an MBA had originated. During my two years tenure, I used to work with a BFSI firm as my client. Having a close interaction with Business Analysts of that firm, I realized understanding the business is as crucial as developing and writing codes. That is when the desire to do MBA grew more.
I started preparing for the CAT Exam, balancing my work and studies. In a corporate world, the week between Christmas and New Year usually has less workload. However, it was also the week of D-Day, January 2nd, 2021. CAT results were declared. After checking my score, I realized that only half the battle was won. I was aware that my next few months were going to be quite hectic. I prepared myself for the process. And finally, after four months of business news, going through budgets, GDPs, repo rates, interviews, and almost two years of rigorous quants, logical reasoning, and reading comprehension, my dream came true. It was May 19th when the mail in my inbox read: “I am glad to inform you that you have been provisionally selected for admission to IIM Nagpur.” I was elated to be a part of one of the best B-schools of India.
It was just the beginning of a two-year journey that I felt won’t be easy. I knew I had to go beyond my 100%. The journey started in July, with orientation week, interaction with classmates, and different club activities. Although the mode was online, I could still feel the essence of being in B-School. I could relate to everything I had read about being in an IIM. I had appeared for my last UG semester exam two years ago. It was a great feeling to be back in class. But the journey was more challenging than I had anticipated. Multiple assignments, case analysis, group activities, class assignments, and strict deadlines defined the journey in term 1. Classes used to start at 8:45 a.m. and end at 1:45 p.m. A day at an IIM seemed more hectic than coding on a computer for nine long hours. The key takeaway was that you have to push yourself harder. Besides, you have to learn to handle stress and pressure. Not only academics, one has to get acquainted with business activities going around the world. We were upgrading ourselves to think like managers and derive optimal decisions.
A few weeks passed, the speed of the course had suddenly accelerated. However, I felt that my workplace experience of meeting client deadlines had helped me organize my activities in the B-School. But as widely known, it takes 21 days to build a habit. Once I was habituated to this routine, things started to align themselves. And then I did realize that learning has no end and there is no age to be back in schools. In July 2019, my first job marked the transition from benches in classrooms to cubicles at workplaces. Two years hence, I was back in school, learning how the business world works. Because again, as Henry Ford had said, “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young.”
About the Author:
Sounak Paul is a PGP1 student of IIM Nagpur and an Executive Member of Ummeed- the Outreach Community. He has 24 months of work experience in Enterprise Content Management for an IT firm. In his leisure time, he loves to sketch, draw cartoons and likes travelling. He is looking forward to graduating in 2023.