Confessions of a First-Year Business School Student

“So, why get an MBA?”

It’s the question on everyone’s mind the moment they see my NYU Stern-branded water bottle, or hear me talk about an upcoming accounting midterm. Why b-school? Why now?

I’ve tried out all the typical answers to this question. Sure, there’s the whole increased-earnings-potential, return-on-investment thing, but there are lots of ways to make more money without spending three years and countless hours of time in class as a business school student.

There’s also the speed-your-way-up-the-corporate-ladder answer, which is probably more true, but even then, I’ve climbed pretty high already in my relatively short career—there’s no reason to think that I couldn’t continue to grow professionally without adding the letters MBA to my name.

I know that a career-change is not in the cards—I’m one of those lucky people who really likes her job, so I have no plans to move out of my industry post-MBA.

So when I think about the answer to this question—the real answer—I come up with three things:

The Challenge: I’ll say it again (actually, I’ll probably say it a lot): I enjoy what I do. And, in my humble opinion, I’m pretty good at it. Rare is the event that causes me to truly have to step outside of my comfort zone and learn something entirely new. While that makes for good, solid work output, it doesn’t make for personal growth. Throwing myself into the crucible of business school is exactly the kind of personal challenge I need at this point in my career and my life.
The Knowledge: I’ve learned a lot on the job, but there are aspects of the business world—data modeling, finance, accounting, and so on—that I haven’t yet had the chance to learn. I can either wait for my career to provide me that opportunity, which may not happen, or seek out the knowledge I need to become a more well-rounded professional. Example? In only a few short weeks since the start of school, I already understand how to read a financial statement in infinitely more detail and complexity than I did after years of on-the-job work.
The Impact: It’s a cliché, but I work in an education company, so I feel like it’s a cliché I’m allowed to embrace—I don’t want to merely do work, I want to make a difference for my company and my colleagues. With the knowledge, perspective and, let’s face it, credibility that an MBA attaches to your name, I can impact my organization’s success more broadly and more deeply than I could without that training.

So while that doesn’t make for pithy cocktail-party conversation, it’s the truth. I’m hoping I can keep these reasons in mind throughout my months and years in the program. When it gets challenging, overwhelming, or frustrating, I want to remind myself of my answer—my real answer—to the first question everyone always asks.

Of course, the second question they ask is “How do you find the time?” If someone else has an answer to that question, please let me know, because I have no idea.

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