As you may have heard, my first day at school was a disaster. Thankfully, I was able to power on and have decided I can do this! So I spent the second day, or was it second lecture of the first day (let’s just say I lost track of where I was at some point), trying hard to follow my lecturer, understand the concept and at least participate.
This time I knew the course title and topic, Data Analysis, Probability theory (at least I think this was the topic). Probability has always been a topic I did not see the point of, even from my primary school days. It always seemed so abstract and full of unnecessary complications. So, when the lecturer presented a short case study that I found interesting just because it spoke to everyday issues in the modern workplace especially in a time of women empowerment, and then he says we would use the concept of probability to resolve the complication, my interest was piqued. Apparently, it can practically be used to determine even the most seemingly complex matters and resolve issues, and come to a reasonable conclusion that is as clear as night and day, who knew?
The result of the analysis did not matter to me in the least bit, but the reality that an obvious result with clear consequences and recommendations could come out of a concept I had known and discarded all through my educational life was mind- blowing.
The fact that I am shocked by this is a problem, given that I have been a science student doing advanced mathematics courses all my life. A graduate of Chemistry from one of the top Universities in the country with multiple professional qualifications, I thought, I must have seen it all when it comes to mathematics. I mean, if you have taken physical chemistry for 4years and learnt Schrodinger’s principle then you definitely have heard and seen it all or maybe not….. I always thought probability was one of those things’ statisticians use to stress the rest of us with their formulars and abstract unions and interceptions. It just didn’t make practical sense to me until Friday when it was used in a relatable case study, and it was like a light bulb came on and I was seeing this abstract topic in a different light.
This made me question all the other theorems and concepts I had thought irrelevant and not useful in real life situations or to solve real life issues. Perhaps I was wrong and not as knowledgeable as I thought I was. Perhaps there are things I can learn, unlearn, and relearn. Perhaps I didn’t make a mistake after all, maybe the stress of this MBA will be worth it after all and not just another degree but an opportunity to develop my mind and take it out of the box it had been in, a box I had been sure didn’t exist until that moment.
My LBS Series 1