Graduation | Getting my MBA

Hi lovelies, here’s another lifestyle post about where I’m at right now in my life -crossroads. I recently completed a three-year masters degree programme in business administration, with a specialization in finance and accounting. I’ve worked in finance and accounting my whole career so getting this MBA was a natural progression, the obvious next step.

I consider myself a lifelong learner, a trait I inherit from my parents who, like most African parents, stressed the importance of continuous education. I am naturally analytical, an avid researcher at heart, and a reflexive critical thinking practitioner in any given situation, a habit I gained from years of daily journaling/writing in my diary.

True to the Brits, the graduation ceremony was traditionally grand, replete with splendid pomp and pagentry. My other degrees were earned in Belgium where the graduation ceremony is usually a low-key event. I love this part of partaking in the British culture. Hubby, being British himself, takes it forgranted and finds it funny that I’m fascinated by all the English ceremonies and traditions.

Being admitted to the MBA degree programme felt good; it’s rewarding to belong with my peers on this next level.

I could have sworn hubby had tears in his eyes, I don’t know how he managed to take these pictures. His expression of pride in my accomplishment makes it all the more gratifying.

When a topic catches my eye, I will research it exhaustively to get as comprehensive a view of it as I possibly can. I often wonder if this need to research everything is a good quality as it can lead to procrastination. For instance, I researched and toyed with the idea of blogging for a year. Sometimes there really isn’t a formula and one just has to jump off the deep end.

Studying is a passion of mine thus a big part of my life. My interests are vast and varied and many times I fail to see the connecting thread in all the topics that interest me.

Yet I trust that knowledge is never lost. Its application in life as we prance along our hurried paths is the difference between being fretful and being confident. Knowing I have the ability to apply acquired knowledge to everyday situations brings a measure of comfort to stressful situations.

‘All men by nature desire knowledge’, said Aristotle. I hold this truth to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain alienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of knowledge –plagiarized (then bastardized) from the July-4-1776 US Declaration of Independence.

I trust that all roads eventually lead to Rome, even when it comes to education. Our job is to keep moving, and everything else will eventually fall into place as our paths clarify. Then slowly we begin to see cohesiveness and alignment in all that we do. So never stop learning. To use Johnnie Walker’s slogan: keep walking.

We often are our own worst critic and hold ourselves to impossible standards –I’ll be the first to admit this. I often wonder when my varied interests will merge, if I’ll ever be able to make sense of it all. But as I get older I’m learning that it’s okay to not know, to attain less than, to not be perfect. My hubby teaches me to be kind to myself everyday; from him I watch and learn. He has been such a great supporter, which helped me complete this degree programme even as ‘life’ happened.

Am I done with formal education? That’s hard to tell. As hubby and I celebrated after my graduation ceremony, I couldn’t help but wonder how it would feel to pursue a doctorate/PhD. Do I need one? Probably not. Will I pursue it? Only time will tell.

Until the next post, so long my lovelies.