WHY I CHOSE TO DO AN MBA – MY PERSONAL JOURNEY

By Jay S Khan. BA, MBA, CMgr

When my editor asked me to write this piece, giving me just 48 hours’ notice, I was a bit apprehensive as I felt that it may be too personal, however I am glad that I accepted the challenge as it gave me the opportunity to reflect 7 years on.

MBA stands for Master of Business Administration and is generally aimed at busy professionals looking to advance their careers. In today’s climate the job market is difficult, if not cut-throat, and so many undergraduate students are now seeking out higher education to get a competitive edge. Even professionals who have several years of work experience will often attend graduate school to compete with other jobseekers or increase their skills for a current position.

The MBA is a specific type of Masters degree which focuses inherently on business skills. Entry requirement does not necessarily require experience previously in business and therefore is open to everyone and is sometimes regarded as a more prominent Masters.  However, the key to enrolling on an MBA is having work experience. An MBA provides a detailed understanding of contemporary management literature and theory on aspects of organisational situations and helps to improve management practices. It provides a holistic approach towards future challenges in the global environment.

My reasons for completing an MBA are plentiful and have a wider perspective than simply for career progression.  To start things off, this was a natural progression for me in terms of academic achievement as I have an undergraduate degree.  I have always had the intention to complete a post graduate qualification, yet since completing my undergraduate course the timing just did not materialise for various reasons.  The reasons I chose the MBA program is that it is a globally recognised qualification, and the acronym is well known from Europe, Asia and America and has an element of kudos attached. Having an MBA makes you a more attractive proposition for future employment.  More importantly it was a personal challenge to complete it successfully.  Both my parents were great advocates of formal education and this was a way to honour them even though they sadly were not around to witness my graduation.  Finally, I saw this as a way of future inspiration and motivation for my kids and something for them to potentially aspire to completing. 

Those who have completed an MBA will identify with some of the challenges and indeed would have many of their own.  There are several challenges that I had to overcome during the completion of my studies.  Firstly, I was in full time employment during the program and therefore had to juggle between the two and ensure that I maintained a strict regime to continue to meet my obligations at work.  I have to say that I had a very supportive employer and manager which goes a long way.  I have always been a very organised person and I apply the motto ‘Everything matters and always be prepared’ to both my professional and personal life.

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Going back to university was exciting as it brought back memories of when I was a full-time student.  Sitting in the university canteen and observing the fresh-faced students as they discussed their assignments and contemplated their futures was somewhat nostalgic. The challenges faced throughout this process has indelibly made me the person that I am today. Still impacted by my mother’s death 9 months prior to my start date, I had vowed to complete the course.  In addition, at the time I had a young family which presented additional challenges.  Spending quality time with my family is very important to me and I wanted to ensure that this was not compromised.  My wife and kids were very supportive throughout the year which made it that much easier.  During the year my kids saw me studying all hours of the day and I had to commandeer the dining table which was littered with books and all manner of study materials which I would catch them peeking through on occasions. I hope seeing me studying stays in the forefront of their memory and inspires them as they grow.

Embarking on such a challenge requires preparation and to anyone considering this I would suggest completing a shorter course before you take the journey.  Before I started the process of identifying a suitable MBA I wanted to see if I still had the capacity and capability to return to a formal classroom setting.  14 years had passed since I graduated or completed any type of formal learning over a long period.  In preparation, I enrolled on a 6-week teaching classroom-based course to refresh myself and see if I could climatise to this type of learning environment.  What surprised me the most was how it re-ignited my love for learning.

The key to my success was the desire to succeed and the fear of failure. From a practical nuts and bolts point of view it was discipline and organisation that got me through successfully. I devised a regimented plan and timetable and stuck to it without deviation enabling me to keep focused.  It is also important to factor in some downtime, as fatigue can easily set in due to information overload and of course the challenges of everyday life.  Another great tip is finding a suitable study partner to work with, share ideas, act as a sounding board, and help motivate each other. It would be remiss and unforgivable of me not to acknowledge my study partner.

Completing a post graduate course, particular in later years, provides the opportunity to meet some wonderful people from all backgrounds.  An MBA brings together people from all types of professional background and my class was no exception.  My class consisted of people from the IT, healthcare, police, and travel industry, and all at different levels within their respective organisations. As mentioned above, it is a very tough and intense course, and this was evident in the 2nd semester where a few people dropped out.

Writing this piece is the first time I have reflected on this journey and it opened my eyes to the challenges that I had faced.  If I was to have my time over again, I would probably follow the same process as I have no regrets and would highly recommend exploring this type of journey.

If anyone is considering an MBA, I would be happy to pass on my experiences and advice.

THRIVING AND NOT JUST SURVIVING THE FIRST TERM

By Akua J. Quao

As a student getting ready to head off to university, whether a new or a returning student, you may be excited or feeling anxious about starting a new course or returning to continue with your studies. Whatever thoughts are running through your mind, you will no doubt have questions about how you are going to keep safe and settle into some sort of normality following lockdown.

Whilst you can be assured that colleges and universities have been working throughout in order to help students get back to their studies, there are several crucial things that you can do yourself to ensure that you are updated and are able to access adequate support when you need it.

The hectic first term

Due to the often frantic nature of the first term, you can be forgiven for opting for the easiest ways to stay updated. After all, you must remember timetables, room locations, and deadlines, and all whilst also learning to navigate new and different systems such as how to correctly upload your assignment onto Turnitin! 

Temptation to follow the crowd is real

There is a real temptation to just engage with your college or university in the simplest way for you, and it’s very easy to simply join the group chat and keep updated through your peers. However, whilst this is a good idea and is important in keeping you in contact with people on your course, it is not to be relied upon as the only option for staying connected.

People can misinterpret information and do make critical mistakes. To avoid this from happening to you it is really important to remain up to date by engaging fully with the various communication systems in place at your college or university, especially as the pandemic continues to shape the way we do things. Some of these suggestions may seem like common sense, but often due to the busy pace of the first term, many students overlook or forget about the things which could save them valuable time and potential heartache as the course progresses.

Tips for thriving

Every college and university will assign someone to you to provide pastoral care. It is important to know who they are and understand their relationship with you, as they are there to help guide you through the academic system and help with accessing various support services. Like many students, you may at some point experience a stage in your academic journey when problems associated with family, finance, work or health may have an adverse effect on your studies. Students can often feel overwhelmed or embarrassed and disengage from student life, so this is when you must reach out to your tutor and get appropriate guidance. There is always a support team available to assist you through the challenging times, so do attend any appointments and let them know if you are having difficulties that could affect your studies.

You will be introduced to a virtual learning environment (VLE), but if you are not familiar or confident in using this then do not fret, as you are not alone.  With the right help from the technical team, you will be able to navigate it confidently.

You want to hit the ground running but pacing yourself is key to your success. If you know that time management and organisation is not your area of strength, then now is a good opportunity to get some books or videos where you can learn how to manage your time effectively.

Before you enrol on your course you will use a personal email address to communicate with your organisation, but you will be given a student email account once enrolled. Get into the habit of checking this regularly because this is one of the ways that your lecturers and tutors will communicate with you and you don’t want to miss out on an important update.

We all go through phases where we need someone independent to talk to in confidence and without feeling judged. The health and wellbeing team is a good place to start. Find out early how you can use the service just in case you do need it.

There will be times when you put your whole heart into doing your coursework only to be downhearted when you get your grade back. You may be asked to resubmit so then is not the time to try and find out about the protocol around resubmissions, capped grades and appeals. If you familiarise yourself with the academic regulations beforehand you will already understand how your organisation manages assessments.

With Covid-19 still making headline news, it’s no surprise if you have concerns about how to stay safe. If you have an underlying health condition, anxiety or other concerns about being on site, then speak to your personal tutor about this to find out what allowances can be made to support you with your learning. Following the mask wearing and hand sanitizing guidelines is priority for keeping you safe whilst you learn.

“Keep in contact with family if you have moved away from home, especially if it is your first time. Going to college or university is something to look forward to as you make new friends and learn new things, so make sure you are well prepared in order to make the most of this special time in your life.”
— Akua J. Quao
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THE CHALLENGES OF HOME SCHOOLING - COVID SERIES

By Jay S Khan

Anna Dusseau, a teacher and home educator, mentioned in a recent article published in the Guardian online, that she felt her son and daughter were being ‘processed’ in school.  She is currently preparing to publish a book of advice outlining her own approach to home schooling her children, which includes 100 different learning activities that parents can try. Dusseau suggests that more families, including over 50,000 children, are rejecting institutional schooling for home education due to the “forced learning” in schools, the coercion of the national curriculum and the testing and results-driven English schooling system.

Whilst I don’t necessarily agree with all Dusseau’s findings, Dr Richard House has also suggested that current research gives further evidence that home-educated children achieve substantially better outcomes than the mainstream. Even more importantly, as Dusseau says, children are more able to discover “who they really are, and what they want to do in life”, as opposed to them having to develop a “false self” just to survive at the hands of a schooling system that is stultified by the soulless audit culture. Again I don’t necessarily agree with all the points as there is something to be said about children going to school and learning about the outside environment, particularly in terms of travelling, environmental structure and competition, and recognising the differences they have with their peers.

Many of you, I suspect, have taken to ‘Home Schooling’ like a duck to water whilst the rest of us dread our kids asking ‘Mum, Dad can you help me with my homework?’.  The panic starts and the sweat beads start to trickle down the side of your face whilst you try to retain some sort of composure.  Over the last few months, I have a much greater appreciation of those parents who home school as a way of life.  There are many aspects that need to be considered, such as structure, content, and discipline to name just a few.  This is in addition to getting your head around the school system of marking, grading, and examination boards.  There is a plethora of paperwork and red tape to endure and I tip my hat to those that have mastered it.

For many of us, attempting to put tried and tested structures in place, in addition to what we think is a good idea at the time, make us realise that not every home-schooling plan will be suitable for everyone and this will be dependent upon many factors such as the age of the children, home setting and availability of resources.

I must say that calling my attempts to tutor my kids ‘Home schooling’ is somewhat stretching it. Nevertheless, what I found in my own experience over the last few months is to give the children the freedom to express themselves, this will naturally be dependent on what key stage your children are at.  I have 4 children, twin 14-year-olds, boy and girl, a 9 year old boy and a 7 year old girl, and luckily for me none of them were at any significant key stages, allowing me to be able to have some sort of creative licence and experiment through trial and error.  With the twins it was relatively easy, even though they are at that awkward age with hormonal changes taking effect, as they were being set online work by their school on a regular basis, so it was more about monitoring that they were getting on with their work.  Although in certain subjects providing guidance was useful, what I found with them is that generally they were aware what they had to do and talking it through with them gave them the confidence to discover the answers for themselves. 

With the 2 younger ones, however, it was significantly different. Although the school provided some handouts for them to complete, I somewhat struggled to understand the work provided.  I therefore decided to create a weekly timetable, with the core subjects they were being taught in schools combined with additional fun activities which I put up on the fridge.  This included a ‘Choose your own activity’ which the kids really enjoyed and looked forward to as it allowed them to discuss with me and each other what they wanted to do. The home school day lasted 4 hours with breaks and lunch time.  I downloaded a lot of the materials from the internet and gave them folders for all their subjects. They were excited and took ownership immediately.  In the beginning I tried to implement a disciplined approach, routinely checking their work and losing my cool on occasions when they got things wrong, but I found that counterproductive.  I therefore changed my strategy to a ‘Have-a-go’ approach and allowed them to do the work themselves and told them not to worry about getting things wrong and that I will go through the work with them once they completed it.  This approach worked wonders for both of us, as they just got on with it and I was no longer losing my own discipline.  Although my approach is not ‘Home Schooling’ in its element or traditional sense, I knew it would be temporary and, as I stated earlier, I admire those that do it full time as it requires a lot of work, patience, and effort.