Post graduate

Why I came back for more — again

Photo by Cole Keister

Oh no, not this guy.

It was the first week of class back in my MBA program. We were randomly paired with a classmate to research and write a paper together.

We had nothing in common. He worked in supply chain management at a large company with a much more analytical mind than me. I wished I could work with someone in marketing or communications to be much more on each other’s wavelength.

Now I remembered why I felt like I didn’t belong in this program — and why I left.

I started taking business classes in my late 20s. I thought that everyone in this program was cut from the same cloth except me.

I was afraid to speak up. I felt like the odd man out who didn’t have a business degree or work in a large corporation. I had a background as a journalism reporter and was newly in a marketing role. I didn’t speak MBA jargon.

I struggled. I didn’t know if I would make it through my first class, which for some reason was New Venture Formation (talk about diving into the deep end).

Then my daughter was born halfway through the semester. I made it through, but often felt like I was drowning. I dropped my math class and took it a second time. I took a week of vacation to study and work on the final in…