After months of preparation, gruelling interviews, we finally land up in a B-School. We listen to a lot of stories about what it is like to be in a B-school. If you won’t end up in a good club/committee, your life at B-school won’t be good. If you don’t get your dream company here, you will never be able to get it. If you end up in some domain you never wanted, you might never be able to go back & change your way. Amidst all these what-ifs, there are students who have come here just to find their own ways, just to see what they wanted in their life. Some are here at B-school because they didn’t like their first job, and looking for what they want to do next. If I tell you honestly, 90% of students who come here are lost, trying to find themselves, looking for ways to compete, because surviving in a B-school is not as glossy as it looks.
Now, when we enter here, the first major decision we have to take is, choosing which clubs/ committees should we apply to? Now, there is a long process, called overtures where every student has some options to choose from. There are different clubs, consulting, marketing, operations sustainability, social, nature etc., which make students wonder, which are the stream they should be going into.
But what exactly does being into these clubs & committees mean? You have an additional thing to look forward to in your school. While sitting for interviews gives you some credibility, if applying for consulting company, being a part of consulting club might give you some leverage. You are the chosen ones, amidst the huge pool of candidates. You have a family separate from your friends, with whom you are working day & night while planning an event. But are these all statements true? What if you do not end up being one of these clubs & committees which everyone is talking about? Will you not get good placements? What about those students who never apply for these clubs in the first place? They do not have good profiles? Should it be the end of the world?
The reality is in some B-schools in which overtures, club & committee selection process happens before placements, this is the first breakthrough before summer internships. Those who do not get through their dream clubs & committees are left wondering that they would be missing out on a lot in their life. They will not have those club seniors to support you & guide you throughout. They lose the confidence that they can achieve great things at B-school. They would not be having those club parties with your new extended family. They will not get a push for their placements. But this is not what the truth is. I have seen people not being part of any club & committee, being placed in extremely good places, being confident, being happy & being social.
So, what really matters being at B-school? What really matters is to accept that in MBA, you are going to have millions of rejections, you will lose case competitions, you will not get your favourite live projects, you will not become part of an institution’s sports team, you will not get your favourite dream company in summers, but all these things are just part of life, not your life. Nothing should stop you from getting up again & trying.
MBA is all about learning ‘how to let it go’. Try & explore, there are so many opportunities knocking on your door, you just need that one door to open for you where you will find contentment & can be happy. There is a workaround for everything, just keep working hard every day because the world around us is meant to make us smarter every day.