My MBA journey taught me hard work and time management -By Akanksha Luhadia from IFMR Sri City

It is often said that the journey to achieve anything in life is never easy. My MBA journey to join one of the premier B-Schools was equally hard. Since the 9th standard, I had the wish of having my own business. Whenever anyone asked me what I wanted to become in life, I always said that I aspire to be an entrepreneur. This desire became strong in the 11th standard when we started a business of our own in the school itself. It was an eco-friendly initiative and was supported by the principal. The way we launched our products, the decisions that we took to expand it was really important. The way we managed it with our studies just fueled this urge to run a business. So, here is how my MBA journey taught me hard work and time management.

When I read “Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish!”

During my second year at college, I read “Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish!”. It inspired me more. The one thing that attracted me towards the book was the fact that every business started from scratch. Also, I got to know the importance of my MBA. That was the day I decided to pursue it. Soon after, I enrolled for a coaching course and joined the weekend classes. Little did I know that in the coming weeks I was going to be a super busy person and would not have time to study for CAT.

I got an opportunity to work as an intern at Amazon. After my college lectures, I worked for the company for four months to gain corporate exposure. With my college studies mounting on my head and with the on-going internship, I hardly had any time to study for CAT. But still, somehow I tried my best. Soon, the internship ended in the 2nd year. After that, I worked as a summer intern at HSBC in the 3rd year. It was another golden opportunity for me. Managing time was a challenging issue. The stress of writing CAT was increasing day by day. With only three months left, I started my CAT mock tests. I sensed that I might not land up in any of the preferred colleges. Analyzing mock tests was the most critical part of my journey as it highlighted my weaknesses in a different way. 

My MBA and the clash of exams  

One month prior to CAT, we received the time table. I had my exams scheduled right after the CAT exam. Performing well in college was of great importance because my overall CGPA was dependent on it. I did not want to miss that because of my marks, but at the same time CAT was like a onetime opportunity, it was a critical situation for me.

Soon after I appeared for CAT,  the time came to prepare for the group discussions and the interview sessions. With my college schedule, I could not take any evening slots and had to manage with the morning ones. Every day, the group discussions would start at 6 am. In order to reach there, I would have to start at 5 am. So every day, I would walk 1.5 kilometers, catch the bus, again walk 1.5 Km and reach my destination. After that, I would have to leave for college again. If I was lucky I would get the late entry and If I was extremely lucky, I would get the proxy. Like this, I cleared my last semester and appeared for all the group discussions and interviews at college. Finally, I landed up in my desired institution.

Now I feel that what would have happened if I had not managed my time properly? I would have to choose between many important things. Today I can proudly say that my MBA journey taught me hard work and time management.

This article was submitted as a part of Become an Author conducted by Dare2Compete.