A Different Path

One of my goals I set for myself was to find a new job, but this goal is quite important to me. It's not simply finding a job, but finding something more. I want to do something that is meaningful and something that will change the world. I have big ideas, but I feel that my voice is often lost when I voice these ideas. I know that there is some sort of untapped potential that is lying dormant within myself. Over the past few weeks, I have felt as though I have made significant progress in reaching this potential and possibly unlocking something more to myself, but I do know that the goals and objectives, that have not been set in this blog, will take more than what I am capable of doing now.

Yesterday, I met my marketing professor in D.C. for dinner. In my last post, I stated that he was like mentor to me. He has often given me the knowledge and encouragement to succeed in life. He once again provided me with direction that I believe will allow me to go further than I had previously imagined. As we sat and talked, I had expressed to him that I was looking at possibly pursuing an MBA in marketing. He told me that, for me, that would be best. He told me that I am not going to be happy until I challenge myself. People often tell me that I need to be challenged in order to really put forth my full effort. When I was younger, I never really saw this, but now that I reflect back on that statement, I do see why people tell me that. I am the type of person who does not like doing repetitive tasks. Once I am good at doing it, I get bored, because I no longer have to try to to do it well. I then lose interest, and finally my productivity is negatively affected. I think, in some way, E has understood this about me from the start. He would always challenge my intelligence level, work ethic, and analytical skills. He would always provide new and interesting topics, so that I was not essentially bored in school. Our capstone marketing class was brutal. We had to effectively become the marketing manager of the top companies in the world. We were handed a case in which we were presented with a problem and all the information to solve it. We had to use our knowledge of business, and present the CEO (i.e. E) with the our qualitative and quantitative results. Easy right?

Easy, if and only if, we had to provide a qualitative answer. I mean anyone can put BS down on a piece of paper and call that a "marketing plan," but not everyone can prove that it is a viable plan that will not only effectively solve the issue the company is facing, but also provide the financial backing to show that it will be cost effective. Needless to say, these were not just your simple, everyday problems. These were complex, convoluted problems that could be solved in more than one way. There was often information presented within the case itself that would lead you astray. The ability to solve these cases not only tested your business prowess  but more importantly your ability to logically think through issues, while under strict deadlines. When we were handed a case, we had 2-3 days to complete them. My first case, I attempted by myself. Well, that worked not so great. I really didn't know very many people in the class, so I just did it by myself. I remember banging my head against the table, thinking "this is impossible." And, it was. In business, the most important part to realize is that successful businesses are not great because of one person, but great because of teams of people who work collaboratively to accomplish what may have seemed impossible to one.

Somehow, I managed to put something together, and handed in an mediocre case. The next case was around the corner, and I had no idea how I was going to finish another 14 cases. I thought for sure, I was going to drop the class and become a management major. Luckily, after talking with a few girls in the class, I realized that I was not alone. Now E, tends to forget names a lot. If he doesn't know you or doesn't think you are important enough, he will not remember your name. Instead, he will give you his own name. And, that is how I earned my name Harrisa. The three girls who I had confided in would soon comprise one of the best groups that I have ever had the chance to be in. Our group consisted of me, Mayo, Heethan, and Laura, or as we referred to it, H.A.L.S. Yes after that first case, we formed a group that not only would work on 15 cases for 3 months, while staying up til 4 a.m. every night, but we also formed a group that was actually pretty feared in our business classes. After finishing marketing management, we also took other marketing classes for fun, in which we kept our group. When it came time for presentations, we literally set the bar. E would make assignments hard and difficult on purpose, not to make it impossible to succeed, but to challenge you and help you unlock potential that you might not have known about. He would weight exams and assignments so that not everyone would fail. However, H.A.L.S. would often make these weights nonexistent. We would usually have the top grades in the class, not just because E liked us, but because we worked the hardest.

This is the reason that I enjoyed having E as a professor. Not because his classes were easy, but because every day and every semester was a challenge. I always came out of class knowing that I was actually learning something useful and tangible. E has always challenged me to be more than I see myself being. He has shown me that I am capable of achieving great things with hard work and determination. He has also shown me that in order to do this, I need to be challenged and cannot do the same repetitive tasks. I am the person who needs change and stress in my life to succeed. When companies ask me what my weakness is, I say "stress." I tend to stress out easily, but I don't view this weakness a detriment; rather I see it as something that increases my productivity. When I am under stress, I tend to think more logically. I handle stress very well, and thrive in it. 

E has challenged me again, though. After telling him that I want to go back to school, he informed me that I should not look at middle or low tier schools. The only schools that I should look at are top tier MBA and MS programs. I was astonished to hear him say that. He said that I need to be challenged and that I am too intelligent to go to a school that will not be a challenge for me. He threw out a few schools that should apply to, including University of Maryland and Georgetown, but then he said that Stanford University should be one that I shoot for getting accepted to. I was really surprised to hear that school uttered. I had never really thought of me being qualified to enter such a prestigious school. I said to him, are you sure that I should apply to that school? He said yes, you are capable of so much more than you allow yourself to see. You need to be challenged and driven, and you will not be happy until you find work that will do that for you. 

All this time I had been on the path of finding a new job, but maybe that road is a little longer now. Maybe in order to find the correct job that will turn into my career, I need to consider a tangent of going back to school. The more we conversed about the subject, the more I began to see that this could be exactly what I have been searching for. With an undergrad degree, I will never truly be capable of doing what I want to do in life. Every year, there are about 200,000 undergrad degrees "earned" per year in the U.S. With online degree programs and continuing education programs, anyone can get a four year degree. Yet, these programs offer "four year degrees" in under two years? Yes, anyone can get a degree, but are all degrees the same? No, my education was vastly different than most college graduates out there. I was given one-on-one attention, formed great friendships with my professors and classmates  and was able to learn from highly esteemed faculty members. I spent four years studying, researching, and challenging myself. Yet, the same person who did not spend half the time I did learning and absorbing knowledge, have the same type of degree conferred upon them that I did?

All I am trying to say here is that, even though I have a four year degree, that does not mean that it is the same as a degree from an online college. I am not trying to bash the people who hold these degrees, nor am I trying to insult what they are doing. I think anyone who is earning some form of a degree should be applauded. Education is extremely vital, and America needs to change their way of thinking on this subject. However, the problem that were are facing in the job marketing is the dilution of degrees. Companies and employers have fallen prey to looking at a stack of papers as all being the same, rather than looking at where the paper came from and what that paper is made of. They see a four year degree and, regardless of the qualifications of that degree, lump them together as the same. So now I am compared with someone who is less intelligent and has less aptitude to complete the job. 

When I think about all this that I have described above, I think graduate school is my next step. So if I may amend my previous goal # 3, I would restate it as: get into a top tier graduate school. I do not think finding a job is the right answer anymore. Instead, I once again need to challenge myself to succeed at something that I once thought beyond my reach. Earlier I stated that this journey I am on is not going to be easy; I will not only have to overcome obstacles, but explode through them, in order to achieve my life's ambitions. I know that this will not be easy, both mentally and financially. However, where there is a will, there is a way. I have spoken to my father about this, and he agrees with everything that E and I spoke about. He is willing to support me in any way possible. I know that this is something that I want to do, and I am going to make this work. I will be in grad school next year.