It is a big life change to go to school. Most of us have left good jobs and moved here from all over the country, and a few, from other countries.
Some people in my class knew that they wanted to work for X years and then apply to b-school. Others were even more specific and knew they wanted LGO specifically. Some people they just decided later on they wanted to ‘accelerate their career’ or ‘increase the slope of their advancement’. A few of the more interesting stories are from people who already have advanced degrees and decided their existing career path wasn’t right. (Ph.D. and professor at a university, a medical doctor….)
One of the things I like to say is, “Life is not stagnant, even if you are.” Things will change around you, even if you don’t.
So, the first step in going to school is deciding you want to and when it is the right time. Here’s my journey…
At some degree, I’d thought about school (whether technical or b-school) in some form since I graduated undergrad (in 2002). In 2004, I took a Financial Accounting class to see if I had interest in the business side. I liked learning about it, but knew I wasn’t so interested in it to become an accountant. The next year, I looked into school more and took the GMAT and I got a pretty good score (but not awesome). It also didn’t seem like the right time for me; it was right before I moved into a job I really wanted at work. As a chemical engineer, I had wanted a role as a process engineer since I started, and I am glad I had that role.
The next couple years I was learning a lot, had several cool things at work and things were good. November 2007 we were excited to find out we were expecting our first child. (We found out while we were in New Zealand on vacation. That’s another story.) While I was pregnant, I was thinking about going to school. I waited until my little guy was born, and a few weeks later thought “yes, school is still something I am interested in.” We took everything step by step, and first said that I would study and see how the GMAT goes. I studied quite a bit during my maternity leave. (long breastfeeding sessions are good for reading… I did a lot of other reading too, and time on the computer. That was nice. and of course, the amazing time with my little baby.)
Then, after my wonderful time at home I went back to work in mid-October. Work was in the middle of a shutdown and I came back on shift work of three 12-hour days then four days off for the first three weeks. At first, it didn’t sound real great, but it worked out well… I was able to ease back into work with less total hours gone from home.
I took the GMAT on election day (and voted the day before at my local place) and was happy with my score. Next was deciding where to apply, applications, interviews, offers, making decisions, and lots of things that are good for other posts. The short version is we took each step by step and things kept leading towards the same direction.
One of the things we kept considering along the way was “what is enough for us to make a big life change?” We had two good jobs that we enjoyed, lots of family and friends nearby, a nice house, …. a lot of people thought we were (are) crazy! We knew that even if we stayed, things are not stagnant even if we are. There were things in our life that we knew wouldn’t be sustained as-is. It was time for a change.
A few months later, I had completed the entire process and we had decisions to make. As I said earlier, it just felt like things were leading us here. It was hard to leave work, friends, and family but it has been a good adventure.
In parting words, do what is right for you. If it isn’t the right time, wait until it is. If something isn’t right, make a change. Be confident in doing what you need to do.
