Life Update: I'm Going to Grad School

So, I’m embarking on an MBA with a concentration in management. I have a lot of thoughts and feelings this week.

I applied in March and was accepted back in April and chose to start in July based on some planned travel. I paid the fees, got the email login, had to call the helpdesk twice to reset my student email password, bought the textbook, and read the first chapter. It all still did not feel real. But, the class started this week. I’ve just turned in the first assignment and emailed the professor, so now it feels official to say I’m a graduate student. Go Fitchburg Falcons!

It’s been seven years since I’ve been in an academic setting. I’m excited, energized by the topics and getting to think about new industries and studies. I’m already a little overwhelmed. The impostor syndrome is settling in. I got the intro email from the faculty MBA advisor that was helpful and intimidating. The part about the academic rigor and being expected to have prerequisite knowledge had me feeling like I need to budget for a tutor for the eventual corporate finance class. But I’ll finally know what to do with a P&L statement, hopefully.

So why an MBA? Well, I sort of always wanted to go to more school. In my undergrad they said to not rush into grad school until you work and figure out what it is you want to do. They were right! Now I know what I don’t know, and this degree should help me get there.

I’ve never lost my love or passion for research and learning, and I’ve written hundreds of thousands of words in marketing materials at this point, so I know I can do it. I want to have done it. I want my resume to make it past more ATS screenings because I have the advanced degree. I see my friends and family members become actual doctors or lawyers and I think to myself, yeah, suck it up and write the extra essays and get the extra degree. It’ll run my life and calendar for the next little under two years, but then I’ll have it forever.

I remember meeting a coworker with an MBA probably like five years ago, two years in to my career, and asking about her schooling and she said when she finished, she had her choice of the jobs she took. That spoke to me.

But already the challenges arise. In working on my first discussion board post, I was wondering if I need to fully cite a source or just link it? Do I answer both questions or just one (some weeks have just one question and some have two) in the 500 word count target/minimum? I know I could email my professor and ask, but the corporate world mantra of “don’t ask anything you’re already supposed to know” is the prevailing thought. I joined a graduate student Discord server and asked what to do they told me just to ask the professor. I’m going to just go for it so I can get the assignment done and hope for the best. I mean, each discussion post is only 4.28% of my grade or something.

Anyway, now I’m a grad student. I relish calling myself that. I think back to my mom who once said if she won the lottery, she would go back to grad school. Well, I did not win the lottery, but graduate programs are significantly more affordable than they were before online options existed, so I guess I won that kind of lottery. I’m doing this in part because I know it would make her proud. (And my husband, dad and grandmother, friends and my in-laws – I am lucky to have a huge support system).

I can’t wait to be Hope Dorman, MBA some time in 2025.