Taking the Leap: Landing My Dream MBA Program on a Scholarship
From April 2021 – April 2022, I was in a remote village, somewhere in Ebonyi State, Eastern Nigeria. I had to at some point, tie my mobile phone (A Nokia phone. I don’t think I can even remember the model. It was an office phone) to a 9ft-plus bamboo, in a mosquito net so it could be elevated enough to receive MTN cell service from where I lived.
On one of those days in February 2022, I stumbled upon an ad on Instagram that read something like, “Would you like to get an MBA for free?” These weren’t the actual words but it was something close. I thought about the possibility of getting a fully funded scholarship to get a Master’s degree. I was taken aback a bit because a few months ago before I left for service I had researched the cost of getting an MBA. My case study was the Lagos Business School which my Mentor was an alumnus of. This was also because I didn’t have any plans of furthering my education outside Nigeria and LBS is one of the most renowned in the country.
Having had a few minutes in thought, I decided to click on the link. I signed up and followed through with the application process. It was a lengthy one, with a lot of boxes to fill and a lot of convictions to sell but thank God I was allowed to save my progress and finish up later at my convenience, which I did. I was told in an email that my application was successful and I would be contacted if I made it into the next round.
I was given access to begin studying on the learning platform. Without any idea, if I would be in the next round or not, I started with Business Foundations: an introduction to business concepts such as entrepreneurship, finance, marketing, microeconomics, accounting, and statistics. I was so enjoying it, I told myself this had to work. I was going through multiple lessons a day trying to make the most of it in case it didn’t work out favourably. Then I noticed a mail in my inbox saying I was scheduled for an interview in March. Hoorah!
In preparation for the interview, I went through my application again, read through my CV a few times and ensured I had gone through 80% of Business Foundations, just in case. As a child of God that I am, I called my pastor in Port Harcourt (Pastor Chidi Courage – Pastor Cee, as we like to call him) to seek spiritual backup which he provided in no small measure and declared favour over me. I also told my Pastor in the Living Faith Church where I worshipped in Ohofia-Agba in Ishielu Local Government (Pastor Ben-Onom). He also gave me backup and even went ahead to offer me the keys to the church and the church generator so I could have a good view for the virtual interview with Jared Delaney from the US.
The day came. I had gotten 2 litres of fuel for the generator, finished setting up and was sweating profusely. I had turned off the fans because the giant blades of those OX fans were swooshing and I didn’t want the noise from those blades misrepresenting me in the interview! I was sitting there, waiting for 10:00 am EST, which was 3:00 pm WAT. It was intense!
Jared got into the meeting and we exchanged pleasantries. He was so friendly I wondered why Nigerian interviewers enjoyed making interviewees terrified. Oh well!
We spoke about my ambitions for getting an MBA, my aspirations and why I had to make the switch from engineering to business. Every question was met with a befitting answer. I get it was the favour at work.
He then commended me for how far I had gone with Business Foundations, stating that I was almost done with it and asked what my experiences with the learning platform had been so far. I shared my enthusiasm with him and how I was already using the principles I had learnt as a practising businessman. He wished me well, told me to enjoy my learning, offered to share with me some resources, and told me that I would receive an email on the 6th of April to know where I stood; if I had gotten the admission or if I would have to make do with what I had already gathered from the institution.
Brethren, it’s been 11 months now (March 2023) and I want to say I got admitted on the 6th of April 2022, began lectures on the 6th of June and will be a graduate of the Quantic School of Business and Technology with the MBA Class of August 2023!
As I prepared to take my exam on the Business Strategy concentration before March 19 2023, I couldn’t help but remember how it all began.
I’m super excited and amazed at the opportunity, and yes, I’ve been acing my exams and projects so far…