Embarking on a very exciting journey

Even amongst the youngest MBA students, an MBA is a life-changing event. To begin with, your entire routine changes from that of work to that of a student. As you go through the days, a combination of excitement surrounding the new experiences, doubt about whether your decision was the right one and questions about how the programme will fair against your own expectations and objectives start to creep in. I guess that over the next year, I will gain some clarity on these issues.

So far, I have been very impressed with the unexpected things I have learnt, especially how a group of people can react differently when having to solve the same problem together. And the fascinating jobs and experiences of my classmates in their pre-MBA lives.

The past week has been filled with introspection and novelty. Through different activities, I have gained some insights on my attitudes when working with others, my approach to problem solving and my priorities, and compared them with those of others.

Finding out what motivates me, what frustrates me, the personality traits I tend to hide and those which I pretend to have. In one week we have used interesting tools to discover something about ourselves, to map our brains and gain some insights into our personalities and the way we act.

Throughout the classes and speeches, everyone has underlined how working in groups can be both very difficult and very rewarding. It seems there is no middle ground. I hope to find out how rewarding it can be, although I am under no illusion that it will be easy.

So far I have been in awe at the diversity of experiences of my classmates. Students representing 26 nationalities with work experiences ranging from chef to leverage finance expert.

What is clear is that this will be a journey and an experience not only designed to increase your technical knowledge but also designed to open your mind and challenge your beliefs. I am so excited about learning from everyone and hope to contribute from my own experiences.