#Emba 27 Last week of exams

This MBA-work-life balance has been quite stressful. I have to be honest about it. The workload is a lot. Not the MBA by itself but everything put together. Last Sunday I went to a wedding just after finishing an exam and I realise it is something I should not have done. It made me put my guard down, as though I had nothing to worry bout the next weekend. It took me out of work mode which was most likely not a good idea. The day after that wedding I had to fly to Abuja for a workshop. During my Abuja visit, I struggled to find the time to get some work done. Everything has been back-to-back with no breaks. Another difficulty is keeping a face of composure whilst having 100 things in your mind. The positive side to this is that I am building up a tolerance for stress. Things that stressed me out back in the day, no longer stress me as much. When I get into fight or flight mode, I choose to fight. When I was younger, I would recoil and try to run away from issues.

As we build up to these final days of exams, I am doing my best to catch up. The main point is to make sure you put in the utmost effort. If that is done, one will feel happy with themselves. It is not about getting the highest grades in the class. It is more about being the best version of yourself that you can be. It is about making the most out of an opportunity that has been provided. From the network I have built doing this course, I have already gained a lot. I plan to gain even more by going to more networking events when the time permits.

The last two exams that we have to do are the Management Communications exam and the Data Analytics exam. Data Analytics will require the most revision in my opinion, but the work involved is logical. I like logical things like mathematics, rather than more subjective subjects. Both are valuable for business executives. You need to be able to analyze data both from a qualitative and quantitative perspective. Qualitative subjects like ABP have been a very good addition to my skill set so far. Being able to look at an entire business case, understand the situation, identify the problem, analyze the alternatives against criteria, and come up with a solution, is an invaluable skill to have. However,  you are better off backing all this up with data. This is why subjects like Data Analytics are so important. One problem we have in this country is that we are very anecdotal and rumors spread like wildfire. Then we spread these rumors like they are facts. Or we hear something that sounds interesting from someone that is well-spoken and then we parrot it as though it is fact.

All in all, I look forward to taking and passing all these exams so that I can enjoy the break that comes the week after.