Two years ago, I started out as the new girl in the city. I had no idea what I was going to do with my career. I had switched from Biotech to Marketing and was slowly building my work experience by learning on the job. But there was always a missing piece: the right credentials to strengthen my knowledge, expand my skill set and build a relevant network.
My time here in the US has been very rewarding. I’ve had the space to explore skills that interest me, without worrying about strategy, whether it would get me a job, or whether it was even relevant. I loved that time. I tried my hand at Madhubani art, embroidery, cooking, baking and more. Not a big addition to my resume, but a very rewarding change in my personality.
All that said, what’s changed this year is that I’m back in school, doing my MBA. It has been a very different experience. Courses, assignments, presentations and projects keep me super busy. The academics are one side of it, but it’s the experiences outside the classroom that are really shaping my learning and growth.
Team Efforts
Every course involves working with a team on a project, and that opens up space to interact with people. Everyone brings different ideas and different approaches to a problem, and finding common ground for our solution is a lesson in itself. My ideas have their place, and so do everyone else’s. Every team project adds a little more to that understanding, maturity and growth.
Building connections
Do I have friends from college? Yes, a few. But I’m also building stronger professional connections. I’m learning by talking to people in different roles and at different stages. Their experiences, stories and journeys are a learning for me. I get to meet people through classes, conferences and panel discussions, and getting to know so many professionals through college is a great chance to learn from people.
Diversity
I grew up in Chennai, in the southern part of India. I lived there all my life and never had the chance to move and live anywhere away from home. So I was always in a familiar environment, where people spoke the same language, followed the same culture, and shared very similar contexts. Coming to the US opened doors to meet and engage with different people, and college has increased this opportunity even more. I now work with people from diverse cultures, with different experiences and childhood stories. It has been fascinating to map the similarities, understand the differences, and become more empathetic and open-minded.
Time Management
I’ve written so much about time management before, but college has been the real test for my experiments. I use a sand timer to block time while studying or working on assignments. I have a few more ideas in mind, like focus time, time blocking, task sorting, and creating personalized time management tools using AI. These are only ideas for now, but I’ll write more about them once I try them out. Hoping to do that soon!
There are more soft skills I’m picking up through my MBA, but I’m observing them more closely before I write about them. For now, what studying and college are giving me goes beyond subject knowledge and credentials. It’s about growing as a whole person and continuously reshaping myself.
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