{"id":3584,"date":"2022-10-18T12:29:14","date_gmt":"2022-10-18T16:29:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/business-management-mba-ms\/?p=3584"},"modified":"2022-10-18T12:29:25","modified_gmt":"2022-10-18T16:29:25","slug":"5-lessons-i-learned-from-my-first-year-in-ubs-mba-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/business-management-mba-ms\/2022\/10\/18\/5-lessons-i-learned-from-my-first-year-in-ubs-mba-program\/","title":{"rendered":"5 lessons I learned from my first year in UB’s MBA program"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Written by Shannon Alexander, MBA \u201823:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other day as I was getting ready for school, I found myself lost in thought worrying about an upcoming school deadline. Then a thought shook me out of my anxious trance. I thought about how different my life was this time last year. Last year, I felt stuck at a job that I had outgrown. I had been accepted to the UB MBA program, but it felt like a distant concept as I struggled to feel motivated at work before the program began.  Suddenly my homework anxiety didn\u2019t seem that bad. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A year ago, I couldn\u2019t have imagined my life as it is now. In a few weeks, I will have completed my first year of the MBA program. I\u2019m so grateful that I decided to embark on this journey. In only a few short months I\u2019ve expanded my knowledge, faced and overcome challenges, made new friends, and transformed as a person. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are five of the most valuable lessons I have learned so far in the program.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Strive for learning not perfection.<\/strong> <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    I\u2019ve heard this a lot from the professors in the program. It\u2019s easy to agree with this in theory, but I will admit it can be challenging in practice. For all my educational career, I\u2019ve prided myself on being the overachieving straight \u201cA\u201d student. I had to let go of this. Of course, grades still matter, but challenging yourself and learning are far more important to me now. After graduating, I will forget the grades I made. I will, however, use the concepts and skills I learned in my professional life far beyond my time at school. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. Carve out moments that will allow you to celebrate your strengths.<\/strong> <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      While I enjoy challenging myself, I sometimes become impatient if I don\u2019t think I am progressing quickly enough. I find that it\u2019s important to do an activity that I enjoy and feel effortlessly good at. I like to sing or practice yoga. It feels easy for me now, but there was a time when I was a beginner. It\u2019s a nice reminder that you must begin somewhere and, with time and hard work, you can master any skill. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      1. Learn to live with the guilt and make peace with it.<\/strong> <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

        Attempting to devote equal time to all my classes, my partner, parents, siblings, and friends is difficult. I find myself feeling guilty all the time. If I\u2019m working on a homework assignment for one class, I feel guilty I\u2019m not spending time on another class. When I\u2019m working on homework, I\u2019m neglecting the people in my life. Then when I\u2019m spending time with those people, I\u2019m guilty that I\u2019m not doing homework. I found that there\u2019s no way to avoid the guilt, so instead I\u2019ve decided to make peace with it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        1. Work hard and leave your self-judgement at the door. <\/strong> <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

          I take great satisfaction in knowing that I\u2019ve worked hard and done my best. That\u2019s all you can do. If after all of that I don\u2019t make an A-plus or get the internship I applied for, I know that I did all that was within my power in that situation. Self-judgment won\u2019t achieve a different outcome. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

          1. Lean on your classmates for support (they are going through the same things as you!)<\/strong> <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

            Every time I confide in a classmate about feeling drained after a particularly grueling week or hard exam, I find that at least one classmate, if not multiple classmates, are feeling the same way. This reminds me that I\u2019m not struggling alone. I have classmates going through the same things as me.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

            These lessons are still a work-in-progress for me, but I appreciate the opportunity for growth. As I close out this first year of the program on a high note, I look forward to whatever the second year will bring.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

            \n\n\n\n

            BIO –<\/strong> Shannon is a second-year MBA student concentrating in marketing and consulting. Hailing from Buffalo, NY, Shannon has over eight years of professional work experience. Her unique background as a musician has taught her to be an adaptable and creative problem-solver and has fine-tuned her collaboration skills and attention to detail. She is the director of marketing and recruitment for the UB Consulting Group, where she hopes to create value for the Buffalo community and the University by further developing the group’s brand awareness and recruiting top-tier MBA talent to the group.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            Written by Shannon Alexander, MBA \u201823: The other day as I was getting ready for school, I found myself lost in thought worrying about an upcoming school deadline. Then a thought shook me out of my anxious trance. I thought Continue reading 5 lessons I learned from my first year in UB’s MBA program<\/span>→<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":3585,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/business-management-mba-ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3584","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/business-management-mba-ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/business-management-mba-ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/business-management-mba-ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/127"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/business-management-mba-ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3584"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/business-management-mba-ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3584\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3623,"href":"http:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/business-management-mba-ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3584\/revisions\/3623"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/business-management-mba-ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/business-management-mba-ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/business-management-mba-ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ubwp.buffalo.edu\/business-management-mba-ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}