DEJA VU

Have you ever taken a difficult examination and say to yourself that this will be the last time you would ever apply for any certification? The long and unpleasant hours of studying after work, the headache you have everyday, the long weekends you sacrifice for classes, the calls you make at odd hours for explanation on the topics you do not understand, the sleeping in commercial buses to and from your work place, the hunger strike and the drinking of energy drink so as not to feel sleepy, the sleeping at your examination center due to proximity, the health issues, I can go on and on. Not to talk of the long absence from church and the loss of your social life? The list is inexhaustive.

This was how I felt when I was sitting for ICAN, I almost pulled out because I felt I could not carry on. My work, long hours of night studies, lectures almost on daily basis etc. were all taking a toll on me. The certification/examination was in stages and very tough or so I thought. On countless occasions, I was studying and crying and I promised myself that I would never go for any other qualification once I scaled through ICAN. You are getting the drift, right? But here I am a student at Lagos Business School. How did I get here? How did I get here after my encounter with ICAN? I am as stupefied as you are.

Sometime last year, I went to drop some documents at my director’s office, he wanted to know the year I was ICAN certified and I told him. And he responded with a question that plagued my mind for weeks. He said ‘Annabel, what have you been doing since your last certification? You have a whole lot of opportunities ahead of you, is ICAN the last you want to have?’

I was bewildered because I never really saw it from that perspective before that encounter. For lack of a response and to avoid been seen as shortsighted, I grinned and left his office hurriedly.

When I got home that day, I could not sleep, I kept on tossing about on the bed. For like two weeks, the question he asked kept echoing in my head and when I could not bear it any more, I went to his office and he spoke in our pidgin English  ‘you don run finish’ which in proper English means ‘ are you done avoiding me’. He later told me to go for an MBA program, I was overwhelmed and gave him a list of schools I could apply but he objected to all of them and said that it is either Lagos Business School (LBS) or nothing. Within me I said ‘ u dey even give me condition’.   

Three days later, I gave a call to LBS and spoke with the admission desk staffs who gave me a run down of the programs the school offers.

##To be Continued

##EMBA 28 LBS

Annabel Nzegbule