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It started like most ambition tales always start, with a dream, a feeling of being unsettled and a little voice inside of us saying, is this all there is? Even as I was continuing with my graduation program, I was employed in a US-based company, handling real-time chats, making arrangements with foreign clients, and getting a feel of the corporate workload early. The excitement of working at different time zones as well as managing responsibilities and being in the international team was amazing. It made me confident, exposed, and financially independent. However, in the middle of the Zoom meetings and sales calls to clients, I was missing something. I would be doing all these, yes, but I was not creating something of my own. I was not learning why the likes, why the dislikes but doing the how. And there came a time when the voice started to scream: It is perhaps time to do an MBA.

However, the choice was not a romantic and instant one. it was clouded with suspicions, fruitless studies and silent sacrifices. I recall going out late at night visiting the B-school websites to view the curriculums, hear the alumni experiences, and make to do lists forever. Management education was a world in itself, competitive entrance exams, group discussions, personal interviews, SOPs and deadlines which used to fly past you.

Sometimes it seems that everything was too much. I would sit with prep material all around and think whether I did enough, am I enough. Nevertheless, I did have something to hold on  in my mind the belief that one day hard work will speak. And so it is that I plunged on. Page by page. Day and day. There were also days when I confidently solved mock tests; other days, I was not sure about the correct answers. Nevertheless, I never gave up.

And then, one day, everything came full circle.

I got selected at ISB&M.

The process of reading the acceptance letter resembled something I always could imagine in movies. It was an instant of silence and shock. It was mainly pride, however, the sort which is not based on luck, but on the fact that you are certain you deserve to sit at the table.

When I entered the campus of ISB&M the first time everything was lively. There was ambition in the air. No one got to be there someone without a story, a spark, a reason. Even in the first lecture itself I realised I was no more knowledge-gathering, but I was being melded. The high-powered academic classes, never-ending group work, case studies and peer discussions were no longer part of the curriculum, but part of the training. They compelled me to be a mature thinker, talker and doer.

Outside of the classroom, the ISB&M ecosystem is having a life of its own and is moulding me in the most unpredictable manner. Dinners, cab rides late at night when brainstorms are held, committee meetings, Civilization Nights, Chai breaks that go on as that loving chatting session when nothing meaningful is spoken well! All experiences give me another layer to my journey. Gradually, I could notice that I become more curious, more collaborative and more confident day by day.

One thing that is slowly dawning on me as I go through this process of doing my MBA is that it is not all about getting into ISB&M, but it is about the growth therein. It is about making sacrifices instead of being comfortable, believing in the process even when the outcomes seem distant, and showing up day after day thinking that I would learn, lead, and grow.

And even at this time, I understand it is just the beginning.

Written by:
Prayagraj Delhi PGDM 2025-27
CR Section B
Marketing Executive, Content Writer