My MBA Was a Rewarding Investment

Getting my MBA was an enriching experience and a rewarding investment.

My MBA gave me a broad range of business skills, positioned me favorably in the workforce, opened doors to new jobs, and boosted my earning potential. It prepared me for anything that might be thrown at me (yes, a lot has been) and it gave me the ability to see the big picture in the business world.

When I decided to go to b-school, I was working in financial services. I enjoyed my job and I had excelled in the field, but I had learned everything on the job because my undergraduate degree was not in business. I decided to pursue an MBA because I desired a greater depth of business acumen and I wanted to sharpen my existing skills. I felt I needed to be more fluent in reading a balance sheet and understanding an income statement.

I knew I wanted a “generalist” degree and I didn’t want to specialize in one area, so an MBA suited my needs. I liked working in banking, but I wanted to expand my horizons and explore other industries. Going back to school for MBA would be a great way to transition into another field.

The timing was also right because the bank I was working for had been acquired and my job was apt to change significantly under the new ownership. So, in 1999, I said goodbye to my banking colleagues and I entered the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University in Washington, DC.

It had been seven years since I had completed my undergraduate degree at Rutgers University, so shifting from the corporate world to the classroom was a big adjustment. A typical day at the office involved constant and high-speed multi-tasking: working at my desk, answering emails, making phone calls, going to meetings, and having people pop into my office who needed something urgently.

But all that came to a screeching halt. I sat down in a classroom and had to sit quietly while focusing on one professor for forty-five minutes. Initially, it was very tedious to sit in class paying attention to just one thing. It also took some time to get used to using textbooks again and writing twenty-five-page papers.