Operation MBA accomplished

Monday Jul 27, 2009

Around this time four years ago, I decided that I wanted to seriously pursue a MBA degree. I spent time researching programs and visiting schools. I talked to colleagues about where they went and how they balanced school with a full time+ job. (I always add the + for jobs that are web related b/c the Internet has no business hours.) In the Fall of 2005, I studied for and took the GMAT exam that most MBA programs require for admission. I worked tirelessly on essays to try to somehow properly reflect my experience, skills, and interests on a couple pieces of paper. I applied to one school.

Yes, I said it. I applied to one school.

I trusted my research. Babson College is an extremely well respected business school in the US Northeast and has rankings that compete with the big boy, nationally known schools. I knew it was the place for me. Even though I didn't diversify my grad school applications, it worked out fine. On a business trip out in November 2005, I received a call welcoming me to the school. I immediately had that very-excited-oh-my-now-what-have-I-done feeling.

I attended my first MBA class in January 2006. I decided to kick things off with a Statistics course. While stats was never a favorite of mine, I found that I sorta liked being back in school. It didn't hurt that I somehow managed to get the professor to make some baseball references now and then. (Think Moneyball.) Fast forward 57 more credits to my last class in May/June/July 2009. I took a Mgt Information Systems elective about Networks and Platforms. The class was amazing and included cases on Facebook, Amazon Web Services, how APIs are used in Gaming Platforms, and other brand new topics.

Operation MBA is now complete. It wasn't easy. It didn't kill me. I am still somewhat stupified that I'm sitting here and writing that I'm finally done. (Yes, I feel that it's totally ok to use an urban dictionary word while talking about my MBA.) If this were a Hollywood awards show acceptance speech, the conductor of the orchestra would be playing music right about now to get me off the stage. Just like the overwhelmed tearful actor in this position, I'll quickly conclude with a list of people I'd like to thank for getting me to this point:

• Dan, my husband, who slightly nudged me toward the MBA. When I say nudge, I mean he told me to stop talking about doing it and just do it. Our house didn't clean itself while I was doing school work. No matter how done I thought a paper was, he could always find at least one error. He still makes jokes that he hopes to retire early. (Not in this market, dear.)
• The faculty and incredible evening graduate students at Babson. I learned equally from both these groups. I also took an outstanding leadership course at the Babson Executive Education Center. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in further education.
• My un-PHB manager, Will. I couldn't have had a more supportive manager. He's been there, done that with the MBA + full time+ work operation. My coworkers also deserve credit for putting up with me when I came into work after a great class and was ridiculously overeager to share with them.
• Finally, my parents, three sisters, and friends for putting up with my insane schedule and occasional not-so-cheerful-ness due to lack of sleep. Both of my grandmothers have college degrees, not a common thing for my generation. Both my parents have masters' degrees. I'm honored and proud to be part of that group.

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Posted at 04:18PM Jul 27, 2009 by ditucci in General
Tags: babson graduate mba school