Personal Reflection: Last Semester of my MBA

Today is the first day of my last semester in grad school, and I must admit, I’m a little sentimental. As I enter the final chapter of my MBA experience, I’m both proud of myself and honestly amazed.

Over the last few years, I’ve been on a journey to find myself, my zone of excellence, to find a version of me that feels like the me underneath the dust of the road I’ve traveled.

Aside from a few close friends and colleagues, I kept my MBA journey quiet. I think a part of me believed that if I spoke it out loud—like so many other things in my past, it would disappear into thin air, and I’d be left with yet another half-finished journey.

I was stuck in a loop of wanting to pursue something and talking myself out of it right as I got to the start line. I’d pick up a task, put it down, get inspired by something else, and begin the process all over again. Somewhere along the way, I started dismissing myself. I started settling for mediocrity.

Have you ever wanted something so badly, but felt too scared to say it out loud for fear of jinxing it?

I wanted to change, no, I needed a change. This version of life couldn’t be it.

And then… this past year happened.

I started this program in January 2025, and now it’s January again, except this time, I’m at the finish line. And I’ve grown in ways I truly didn’t think were possible.

Along the way, I met people who reminded me who I am. I made a new friend who reminded me that I am capable of great things. His words didn’t feel like empty platitudes, they felt rooted in something. Maybe because they were often laced with a tinge of constructive feedback (you need that sometimes). And while he doesn’t even know the impact he had, his gentle encouragement meant more than he knows.

Slowly but surely, I started to remind myself that something in my past doesn’t define my future.

I started giving myself permission:

• It’s okay to bet on myself.
• It’s okay to believe in myself.
• It’s okay to try something different and fail, as long as I get back up and keep going.
• It’s okay to want the unconventional.
• It’s okay to want the extraordinary.
• It’s okay to want a life I’ve never seen before.

As simple as all that sounds, it was profound for me.

If it had not been for God orchestrating my life, my job, my friendships, I don’t know where I’d be. God was reminding me that He is the author of my story. And He doesn’t write tragedies and my story wouldn’t be the first. He alone can tell me who I am, and He’s said that I am so many beautiful, amazing, and positive things.

That’s what this MBA has been for me. It’s less about the degree, and more about proving something to myself.

So this is me, giving the world notice.

It’s got the next few months to prepare.

Because once I’m done… nothing is holding me back.