The beginning seems so fresh in my mind. I recall the opening ceremony in Bloomington. Dean Dan Smith welcomed us to campus in the beautiful Whittenberger Auditorium at Indiana Memorial Union. Listening to the dean speak was like building a collage in my mind. He said he wanted to remind us that choosing to pursue an MBA from a top-ranked institution was “doing nothing short of changing our lives.” The dean continued by saying that, make no doubt about it, the Kelley School “chose us.”
Those were powerful statements. I exited the auditorium ready to take on the world, and the next week was filled with networking opportunities that validated the dean’s comments. Each student I met was impressively successful, intelligent and ambitious. I knew that I was with current and future leaders of the world’s most important organizations.
Nearly a year later, I’m returning to Bloomington, remembering my initial feelings and the memories I’ve created over the past year. The dean’s comments seem as true now as they ever have. I feel privileged and honored to be a small part of the Kelley School.
A year later, wiser and more experienced, I can’t wait for the dean’s next words to build in my mind. I wonder which words will stick with me this year. Will they be broad, inspirational phrases that make good quotes at the bottom of emails? Or, will it be the subtle guidance that is typical of great leadership? I’m thrilled to find out.
Showing posts with label Geoff Duncan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Geoff Duncan. Show all posts
Monday, 28 May 2012
Monday, 8 August 2011
Cell Phones and Online MBA Education
I purchased an iPhone recently, and it got me thinking about online education. If you’re wondering what the heck I’m talking about, allow me to explain. I owned the same cell phone for five years. It was a classic flip phone with an antenna. It took 25 keystrokes to write a simple phrase like “happy birthday." It was a terribly inefficient device that my friends reminded me of regularly.
I didn’t get a new phone sooner because I’m a late adopter. It takes me a long time to evaluate products and services, and it takes an even longer time to make a decision. I tend to be distrustful of “the next best thing,” and I prefer to allow other people to test new products so that I may learn from their feedback. So why did I choose to earn an online MBA degree – a relatively new educational program design – instead of a traditional two-year immersive program?
There were three mental obstacles that I had to overcome in order to apply (and be accepted) into the Kelley Direct program. It’s my hope that prospective students who read this blog entry may find my thought process to be parallel to their own. Clearly my goal is to be a good steward for the program, and I hope prospective students will choose the Kelley Direct program, but at the end of the day everyone has to do what’s right for them. With all that said, let me continue.
First, I wanted to make sure that whichever MBA program I chose would have a great reputation. I wanted the program to be challenging and to adhere to strict academic standards, and the Kelley School is frequently ranked among the best in the country. Additionally, the Kelley School has done a tremendous job opening up its career and alumni resources to Kelley Direct students. The administration has further integrated the program so that everyone knows that it’s the first word in “Kelley Direct” that is the most important.
Second, as sick as it sounds, I wanted to keep working. When I was evaluating full-time programs, I had lots of discussions with prospective students about career goals. The inevitable first question that I was asked was “What do you do?” and the follow up question was “What do you want to do?” After answering these questions the same way for about the 500th time, I realized that (a) I love my work, (b) I’m doing exactly what I want to do and (c) I have great opportunities to progress in my career. So why leave for two years to go back to the same job in the same industry?
Third, I have a young family, and their happiness is of paramount importance. My daughter is about a year-and-a-half and my wife is working on her master’s degree. How far would our family be set back if we made nothing for two years? What kind of dad would I be, or shall I say could I be, while being a full-time student? I should note that I met people who were dealing with the same circumstances, and they were accomplishing their MBA as a full-time student while being a family-person. I admire their commitment to fulfilling their MBA dream, but I knew that their path was not for my family and me.
Obviously I’m very happy about my decision to enroll in the Kelley Direct program. I’m looking forward to meeting new people and expanding my skills. I’m even looking forward to viewing PowerPoint presentations on my iPhone.
I didn’t get a new phone sooner because I’m a late adopter. It takes me a long time to evaluate products and services, and it takes an even longer time to make a decision. I tend to be distrustful of “the next best thing,” and I prefer to allow other people to test new products so that I may learn from their feedback. So why did I choose to earn an online MBA degree – a relatively new educational program design – instead of a traditional two-year immersive program?
There were three mental obstacles that I had to overcome in order to apply (and be accepted) into the Kelley Direct program. It’s my hope that prospective students who read this blog entry may find my thought process to be parallel to their own. Clearly my goal is to be a good steward for the program, and I hope prospective students will choose the Kelley Direct program, but at the end of the day everyone has to do what’s right for them. With all that said, let me continue.
First, I wanted to make sure that whichever MBA program I chose would have a great reputation. I wanted the program to be challenging and to adhere to strict academic standards, and the Kelley School is frequently ranked among the best in the country. Additionally, the Kelley School has done a tremendous job opening up its career and alumni resources to Kelley Direct students. The administration has further integrated the program so that everyone knows that it’s the first word in “Kelley Direct” that is the most important.
Second, as sick as it sounds, I wanted to keep working. When I was evaluating full-time programs, I had lots of discussions with prospective students about career goals. The inevitable first question that I was asked was “What do you do?” and the follow up question was “What do you want to do?” After answering these questions the same way for about the 500th time, I realized that (a) I love my work, (b) I’m doing exactly what I want to do and (c) I have great opportunities to progress in my career. So why leave for two years to go back to the same job in the same industry?
Third, I have a young family, and their happiness is of paramount importance. My daughter is about a year-and-a-half and my wife is working on her master’s degree. How far would our family be set back if we made nothing for two years? What kind of dad would I be, or shall I say could I be, while being a full-time student? I should note that I met people who were dealing with the same circumstances, and they were accomplishing their MBA as a full-time student while being a family-person. I admire their commitment to fulfilling their MBA dream, but I knew that their path was not for my family and me.
Obviously I’m very happy about my decision to enroll in the Kelley Direct program. I’m looking forward to meeting new people and expanding my skills. I’m even looking forward to viewing PowerPoint presentations on my iPhone.
Wednesday, 27 July 2011
What am I doing?
I'm about a week and a half from attending Kelley Connect Week. My travel plans are set, and I'm excited to be staying at the beautiful Indiana Memorial Union. It's hard to believe that I'm so close to starting the program. Lately I've been thinking about how I got to this point. I've been thinking about my (shall we call it) pre-MBA journey, so that I can articulate my story to the fantastic people I expect to meet during Kelley Connect.
Why am I pursuing my MBA? What kind of masochistic-traits must I have to put myself through sleepless nights in order to shell out thousands of dollars? What will this do to my family?
Before you begin to think, "This guy is just thinking about this now!?!" Let me assure you that I have spent ample – and I mean AMPLE – time considering these questions and a hundred others. It's just that now that I'm so close to beginning the program the main questions I had during my research arise again. Obviously this is typical for consumers. I will begin the program with questions swirling, then I will move steadily into the cognitive dissonance stage, and ultimately I will once again realize that pursuing my MBA was the best decision I ever made.
Any way... first thing's first. Why am I pursuing my MBA? I'm doing so because I knew that business is ever-changing and not that long ago it was pretty special to have an undergraduate degree. I knew that to keep pace I needed to become more aware... I needed to become more knowledgeable. I also wanted to give myself the challenge. I wanted to see if I could do it.
Being a relatively-new father and a naturally frugal individual, I was always concerned about the financial commitment of the program. I read countless articles espousing the pros and cons of the MBA ROI, and I drove my wife crazy with Excel analysis proving and disproving the ROIs. What got me over the hump is I realized that there's a price for quality. There's all sorts of financial reasons not to complete an MBA, but it really came down to one simple question: Do I think that the MBA will lead me to a better and happier life? And, the answer was a firm YES!
I've always said that "things work for you if you make them work for you." I think an MBA is exactly like that. I know I will make it work for me... and really, that's that.
Why am I pursuing my MBA? What kind of masochistic-traits must I have to put myself through sleepless nights in order to shell out thousands of dollars? What will this do to my family?
Before you begin to think, "This guy is just thinking about this now!?!" Let me assure you that I have spent ample – and I mean AMPLE – time considering these questions and a hundred others. It's just that now that I'm so close to beginning the program the main questions I had during my research arise again. Obviously this is typical for consumers. I will begin the program with questions swirling, then I will move steadily into the cognitive dissonance stage, and ultimately I will once again realize that pursuing my MBA was the best decision I ever made.
Any way... first thing's first. Why am I pursuing my MBA? I'm doing so because I knew that business is ever-changing and not that long ago it was pretty special to have an undergraduate degree. I knew that to keep pace I needed to become more aware... I needed to become more knowledgeable. I also wanted to give myself the challenge. I wanted to see if I could do it.
Being a relatively-new father and a naturally frugal individual, I was always concerned about the financial commitment of the program. I read countless articles espousing the pros and cons of the MBA ROI, and I drove my wife crazy with Excel analysis proving and disproving the ROIs. What got me over the hump is I realized that there's a price for quality. There's all sorts of financial reasons not to complete an MBA, but it really came down to one simple question: Do I think that the MBA will lead me to a better and happier life? And, the answer was a firm YES!
I've always said that "things work for you if you make them work for you." I think an MBA is exactly like that. I know I will make it work for me... and really, that's that.
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