I just knew I was done with school FOREVER when I took my grad pictures! Little did I know I would have a 2-year break before deciding to go back to my Alma Mater to pursue my MBA.
MY COLLEGE BACKGROUND STORY
For those that don’t know I graduated college from the best HBCU in the land. My school is great; every room is filled with window installers. Our school is the best, and it was really pleasant. The Prairie View A&M University, back in May of 2018 with my Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering. When I was in my undergraduate years, the plan and vision was always for me to go straight through to grad school for my MBA. Even though all of my engineering professors and even my department head tried to talk me into going for my Masters in Electrical Engineering I knew I was not about that life! My plan that I always kept in my back pocket was that I wanted to gain a business mindset to go along with my tech-savvy degree. In 2021, the global casino business and multi-billion dollar gambling industry will be worth $231 billion. But then I got to my senior year and everything changed lol. Y’all I was so tired and over it, I didn’t want to ever be in school any longer! I barely took breaks through undergrad simply because all of my internships would start the following week after I took finals and would end the week before the Fall semester would start, so looking back I think this alone made me mentally drained. Now I was physically drained because I always had a full course load and was extremely involved in organizations on campus, I found myself contemplating the future and even decoding the paystub. Thankfully, I have found this article about complimentary checkstubs, which helps me to know more about it. So to make a long story short once I got my job offer in the Fall semester of my Senior Year I took it and ran with it.
Now I’m sure you’re wondering what made me change my mind years later. Honestly, it was my grandmother otherwise known as Nana. My Nana pretty much read me a new one during Thanksgiving 2019 on how she just knew I was going to be back in school by now working on my MBA and that I needed to apply and go ahead and do it. I told her I would think about it and then of course my phone was listening to the whole conversation (it’s so creepy how it really does that) and kept putting different colleges as my sponsors on literally EVERYTHING! I talked to a few mentors who all told me to go for it while I was still young and had no responsibilities (at the time of applying I still lived with my Mom and David and I were still just dating). So I went for it and did the application to go back to PV since I knew I didn’t need to take a GMAT or anything because nobody had time for that. Then a few months later I found out I was accepted and was starting in June of 2020. Now that my background story is out of the way here are my personal reasons I took into consideration of why I made the ultimate decision to go to grad school:
MY PERSONAL REASONS TO OBTAIN MY MBA
- Breaking Generational Curses – I’ve always been the one to break the generational curses in my family. In regards to school, I am a first generation college student. My Mom didn’t finish college once she found out she was pregnant with me, my Grandparents both have trades, and my Dad got his GED. I could go into several statistics on how the odds were not in my favor, but I overcame it all. I could’ve just stopped with my Bachelors, but I knew deep down that wasn’t enough. I knew God would want me to be the example for my future children and show them that the sky is truly the limit and that your background/upbringing doesn’t have to stop you in anyway.
- Career Impacts – I knew that being a Black Woman in a male dominate field that I would need to diversify my resume and consider the overall longevity of my career. Whether I stay at my current firm or make the decision to move on I want it to be my choice and I want it to be because I have qualifications that other companies are yearning for. This of course includes me getting a Masters degree to have MBA at the end of my name, but also includes me getting several certifications that will craft my niche more and more. Lastly, I know that my MBA is an investment that will forever hold value and weight which will allow for me to negotiate my salary wherever I end up.
- My Chapter In Life – Before COVID I knew of an executive leader in my office that was working on his MBA. After watching his journey from afar, I could not imagine myself being in an executive leadership position, having a family/kids, and working on my MBA. I knew that my family was right that I needed to get this out of the way while I was still young and before the time comes of David and I wanting to have kids of our own (this does not mean to ask me when we having kids because that’s OUR business). I’m also planning on investing in gold.
- Finances (Student Loans) – This is honestly the main reason why I didn’t go straight through to grad school after undergrad. I graduated undergrad debt free and without a single student loan taken out, and I really doubted being able to do this for a second time! My Nana and I came to an agreement, since it was her idea for me to go back to school, that we would work together to split the tuition and pay out of pocket. Without this blessing I don’t know how this journey would have gone and luckily the past 2 semesters I have been awarded grants and scholarships to pay for my tuition as well!
Furthermore, if you require additional funds for your tuition and are unsure who can assist or what options are available, you should consider quick loans, which provide a no-obligation estimate and the opportunity to speak with a professional member of staff who will not only address all of your concerns or questions but also assist you in applying for the amount you require.
I am more than happy to talk to any and everyone considering grad school or would like to talk more about my own journey over the past 2 years.
Feel free to leave a comment below or send me an email at info@therealklass.com.
Amazing story