It’s been a year and a half in the making. After deciding to go to business school in January 2018, studying and taking the GMAT test, applying for scholarships, applying to schools, applying for more scholarships and ultimately confirming my place at Cambridge, it’s crazy to think my MBA will kick off in less than a month.
I’m writing this blog post from a little café in Paje, Zanzibar. I decided to make the most of my time between finishing work and diving into the Cambridge MBA by spending two months exploring East Africa. I must admit that I decided to come here predominantly for the wildlife. But, as always, it’s the people I’ve met here that have been the highlight. In the last couple months I have made friends with people from all walks of life, and challenged some of my previously unchallenged ways of thinking about the world. A well-deserved break, but also the perfect precursor to my time at Cambridge.
One of the things I’m looking forward to most about the Cambridge MBA is the diversity of the people I will meet from my class and the wider university network. Already the Class of 2019 MBA cohort have linked up on various platforms and there is a fantastic mix of nationalities, career backgrounds and aspirations. I hope my future professors don’t hold this against me, but I imagine I’ll learn as much from my classmates as I will from my classes!
I’m a passion-driven person, and get energy from working on projects that I really believe in. I decided to complement my engineering background with an MBA qualification, in order to transition into the sustainability-meets-business-strategy space. I’ve already spotted a number of Special Interest Groups at Cambridge Judge Business School that will help me explore this sector further. I also look forward to connecting with the Cambridge Institute of Sustainability Leadership which demonstrates some real thought leadership and action-orientated research. Opportunities like this are unique to Cambridge University and CJBS and I’m certainly planning on making the most of them.
Finally, a year Cambridge would not feel complete to me without attending more than my fair share of formal dinners in the colleges, and getting stuck into the social and sports scenes. The only trouble will be narrowing down my options because my current levels of enthusiasm may lead me to over commit. I’m brimming with anticipation and can’t wait to get started.
