The Journey From Graduating In Cinema To Pursuing An MBA At 27 While Being A Fresher

Recently, in a field Immersion program by IIMN, I was asked, “Very rarely a Cinema graduate enters the world of MBA.” And my reply to this was, “This is just the upper layer; there are so many things beneath this.”

Yes! Reine Shivaa here, or you can call me by my Aadhaar card name as Kritika. I have been part of 3 education institutes for 3 years each before my MBA; Architecture, Cinema, and English Literature. I have travelled solo for eight years and have been part of 7 different fields in the last decade, but MBA is nothing like those. Then why did I choose MBA at the age of 27?
While managing my entire life on my own, and with absolutely no support from anyone around, I crossed Indian borders and explored Indian culture from North to South and East to West. For any viewer, it was a great life, but the reality was that all this was done out of the ‘need’ and not the ‘want.’ During this time, I was also part of a 3 years regular course of BSC in Cinema. Then I worked in a few advertisements, films, and TV shows as an Art, Production, and Direction Assistant in Mumbai and Delhi. From within, I knew something was off, but I kept on going. Isn’t that what life is all about?

Even then, I did not know as what this media industry would make me go through, and the moment my graduation ended, I tried to change fields and take advantage of my other degree of BA English (Hons.) and got a job as a Content Manager & Copywriter.

I worked in a few companies with profiles related to Advertising and simultaneously learned online trading. That was the first time I knew from within that I was meant for the business world. After 8 long years, in 2020, I could form my second goal in life (the first was to be a sports player). So, I decided to pursue Masters abroad. Specific Masters or MBA? It wasn’t decided yet. But, studying outside India was finalized. So, a State badminton player, district hockey and floorball player, and 5 years freelancer, decided to enter the business world and did deep research online to find the best possible institute. All institutes were challenging enough to get into financially and not because of exam scores. With no financial support from anyone I would have to take the loan, so all my research went in vain, and I decided to open my own company 2 years later, in 2022.
On one fine evening in August end when I was going through various emotional traumas, I decided to study Maths again (as I was missing it) and so wanted a proper deadline for the push. Also, after 2012 when my sports career ended, I stopped watching the news, so I craved to be educated about world news again. The CAT exam has Quants, and CAT interviews have GK preparation, and with this mindset, I applied for the CAT exam. I even selected IIM institutes on the basis of location from where I can explore more. And so ended up applying only to 6 IIM institutes.

Later on, I got admitted into IIM Nagpur, but as a fresher, as my entire work experience of 6 years freelancing and 2 years full-time was either taken up for education or money (didn't entail the required documentation as per Institute norms) and hence couldn't be considered as formal work experience. With all the experiences gathered till now by years of travel, work, and diverse education, I will be exposed to MBA in a different way. I am thankful for this IIMN decision in taking a step towards my second goal.

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  About the Author: Kritika is a PGP1 student of IIM Nagpur. She graduated in 2019 with BSC in Cinema and in 2020 with BA in English (Hons.). She perceives herself as a devotee, learner, and leader in small/big frames with indirect or direct usage for communities. She has been part of diverse fields such as Sports, Architecture, Cinema, English Lit., Advertising, and Management.