MB-Eish Part 1: Hoops

**"Eish" is a South African slang term expressing surprise, dismay, anger or frustration.



This is the first in a series of posts about my MBA experience. Of course, from what I've heard about the pressures that this course brings my blog may not be updated again for about two years, so I'd better make this post good. And you'd better read it slowly.



As I mentioned last year, I have joined the droves of engineers who have sold out to the dark side:



Banking.



To make myself more comfortable in my new, murky surrounds I have decided to do an MBA part-time. I admit this is becoming cliché for engineers, and I hate clichés. But here I am, clambering onto the bandwagon anyway and preparing for an exhausting but exciting ride. The program starts tomorrow but the torture started last year...



In October I started the process of trying to get in.

Chinese Olympic gymnasts have jumped through fewer hoops! Entrance test, monstrous application forms, essays and an interview. And then of course the loooong wait to hear the good or bad news.



First came the GMAT. A four-hour test designed to obliterate self-esteem, make you doubt your own intelligence and question your desire to do an MBA in the first place. Computer-based with thirty-odd Maths Olympiad type MCQ’s (and no calculator) with about 2 minutes per question, followed by about fifty grammar questions with about a minute each to answer. And all of this takes place under full camera supervision with biometric scans of your palm before and after the test and breaks. Did I mention it costs US$ 750 to endure this? Brave, arrogant and stubborn as I am - against all advice - I left a week to prepare and booked the test date just before applications closed. Luckily a preparation (spoon-feeding) course offered by the business school dragged me to success. Well, that and six late nights straight.



Second, there was the tree-killer of an application form. Urgh! I won't bore you with the details, but the most inconvenient thing was that it involved introspection. "How are you going to handle your family obligations during the program?", "What are your goals in life and how do your work goals support them?"... Everything short of "How are you going to end world hunger, cure AIDS and bring about world peace?"



And then the interview... This was the most painless part I guess. More like a chat over a cup of coffee.



Then waiting...



And more waiting...



And more waiting...



I started calling admissions every few days. I felt like the girl who'd gone on a fabulous date and then the bad-boy, emotionally withholding-type guy didn't call - desperate, rejected and needy.



Just when I'd decided that I was better off not studying this year, I got the "Congratulations, well done..." letter. And that is right about when the panic set in! As in, "Oh crap! What have I signed up for?" .



A week later I collected my reading material. Yes, sir. Yes, sir two bags full... of textbooks, and an unsuspecting little flash drive.



After Christmas I opened the flash. It should've been labeled "Pandora's" because my, oh my, were there some nasty surprises on there. More than 600 pages of readings!! I then spent my last week of annual leave in a reading frenzy and on a speed-reading workshop trying to get a head start. There were even two assignments due before classes start!



Well, there’s no turning back now. And all the other overalls-turned-suits tell me they realised during the course that engineers have superior intellect anyway and can cruise through an MBA like a ten year old through Grade 1.



Just kidding!



(Ok, the engineers know I’m not kidding *grin*)