“How do you feel about getting on your hands and knees and pretending to be a bull? We need to get in some practice rides before the next round”.
I was prepared to be confronted with a number of new experiences when I enrolled in the MBA program but I did not see this coming. Not a problem, I adapt, I have a wide variety of skills and I thrive under challenging circumstances. More importantly, I have 51 classmates who help me on a daily basis and for whom I will gladly return the favour. If that means bucking around on all fours… yee-haw!
Now I don’t mean to minimize the other components of the MBA Games experience – the athletic competitions were thrilling, the academic teams’ performance was inspiring, and the networking was rewardingly social – but what I will remember most is the deepening of the friendships that have been building through the first months of our program.
More than money, more than performance metrics, and certainly more than mined data and regression analysis, business is about people. The hard skills I learn in class will stand me in good stead but I will also gain considerable advantage from the soft skills that I hone during long hours spent in the company of my cohort.
The MBA Games afforded many such opportunities. I learned about teamwork and the power of working in concert to achieve a common goal. I learned about encouragement: cheering my friends’ success and standing with them to face challenges. I witnessed countless acts of heartfelt kindness and I shared in joyful camaraderie. Through it all I gained a greater appreciation for the amazing collection of friends with whom I share my days and nights at the Segal Graduate School.
So be it a pressure-filled presentation or a make-or-break exam, whether I am still in school or charging forward in my new career, with a team like the one I was a part of at the MBA Games, I am confident that I can tackle anything.
I am ready for the rodeo.
Love it