Texas MBAs Talk

As someone who studied history and medicine as an undergrad and entered the workforce in the realm of campaign politics, I know I am not a traditional business student. Lucky for me, being a non-traditional student at McCombs is not a rarity. Most of my classmates were not business majors, which makes asking questions in class far less intimidating. However, there are only a few people in the class of 2011 who do not have an established background in ANY of the core subjects. I am one of the chosen few.

Initially I was a little self conscious about my lack of business education, but recently I made the conscious decision to view my inexperience as positively as possible. While some of my classmates are bored to tears when Professor Leeds breaks down the basics of Time Value of Money and teaches us how to properly use a financial calculator, I am scribbling furiously with one hand and punching numbers into my calculator with the other. If it is a good day I’ll get the right answer; if it is a bad day my hand will cramp up rendering my printing illegible, but I am never bored. Every single day I learn something new.

This past week we took our first quizzes, turned in countless problem sets, and were given our first take home midterm. (I am still trying to wrap my head around the fact that we take our first midterm before we attend our first football game, but I digress). When preparing for the gauntlet of quizzes, I was a bit nervous. I figured subject unfamiliarity is a larger disadvantage in timed situations, and I knew my ability to name all of the Presidents in chronological order was not going to save me this time. In the end, the stress was without reason. Do I have to work a little bit harder to understand finance? Maybe, but business school is an adjustment for everyone. No one is in their comfort zone.

Last week I watched my classmates work together to study, solve problems, and work their way through unfamiliar material. I am consistently impressed with the collaborative atmosphere at McCombs. It makes being non-traditional a lot more manageable.