THE BEGINNING, WHAT’S NEXT?

All things have beginnings. While some are small and gradual, others kick-start with great magnitude and speed. In this case, mine was the former.

In the beginning of my quest to becoming an MBA candidate at the Lagos Business School, I had nothing figured out; neither the time nor the money. Just dreams of being better. In that light, I chose to start small and gradual by putting a foot in front of the other-a strategy I believe works better than staring at the bigger picture; a very complex image. “An artist begins every great masterpiece with just a stroke”, I spoke to myself in encouragement more often than not. “What’s next?”, I asked myself when I finally made up my mind to begin the journey.

The first step was to apply. I went through the program requirements, I had all that was needed except that I needed to write either the GMAT or the NMAT. I eventually chose to write the NMAT against the GMAT because it was cheaper and for some reason I thought it was easier. I registered immediately and scheduled a date for the exam as the LBS application deadline drew closer. The very little time I had before the exam coupled with the fact that I couldn’t find any NMAT study material was enough to scare the ambition out of me. It was the day of the exam finally and unfortunately my network went ‘MIA’ (missing in action); not strong enough to proceed. The proctor announced that I had to forfeit the attempt and reschedule. Fortunately LBS had shifted the deadline with a month, so I could schedule a later date. It cost me extra but now I had a bit more time. I eventually wrote the exam at LBS and passed the required score. “What’s next?”, I asked again.

It was time for the interview process-I’m not the best when put on the spot-With a shaky voice, I went through the interview stage, got a few questions wrong and the response was a laughter. At that point, all I wanted to do was tap “leave” on the zoom screen and end it all, but I couldn’t. I stayed staring at myself on my screen till they were done with me and asked me to leave. I talked to a few people who gave me tips on how to do better next time, read to find out what the right answers to the questions I was asked were; it made me feel better and more confident. Few days later I got a call saying that another interview was fixed for me, I knew I had to do better this time. Looking more confident and relaxed, I answered the questions and had a nice chat with the Faculty. Few weeks later, I got a mail saying I passed the interview stage successfully. “What’s next?”, again, I asked.

Days passed and then I got a mail containing a brush-up program time-table, a program that started 2 days before I got the mail. Unprepared and busy with several engagements I managed to attend only a few of the classes. It was then I got a glimpse of how tedious it was going to be juggling between school and business. While still struggling to create time for the classes, I got a congratulatory mail containing my admission letter into LBS. Reading through the mail with excitement, I noticed I had just a week to pay a deposit of N1.5million or I’d forfeit the admission, my joy paused for a bit because I didn’t have that much at the time. Well, I eventually paid the fees, resumed the first semester classes and here I am blogging, still asking myself “What’s next?” as I try to take things ‘one at a time‘. The program has been interesting but really demanding. I can’t break now because this is just the beginning.