Coming back from a six-month exchange in Australia and a six-month internship with Clarins in New York as a 2018 Warwick Business school student, I still wasn’t certain about what I would do after graduation. Unsure of the path to take, I decided that applying to a Master’s degree would give me an additional edge as well as more time to make up my mind, gather more information on different opportunities, and become more competitive in a world where most people have Master’s degrees.

• Read more about From Road-tripping to Becoming a MIM Student

My primary objective of attending the GEMBA programme is to prepare myself with the necessary executive education to ensure that I stay relevant in the currently challenging global business environment. This has become more palpable with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic which has disrupted multiple industries. The education sector has not been spared from the disruption caused by COVID-19.

• Read more about Seeking Relevance

It was late January 2020 and I finally decided to apply to the TIEMBA programme, which also coincided with the start of the COVID pandemic. I had been researching and casually poking around the Executive MBA space for a couple of years, but now felt like it was the right time to make a commitment.   

• Read more about Exactly What I Was Looking For

A few months ago, it would have been difficult to imagine that a pandemic would come our way, causing the whole world to stop. I imagine that this outbreak wasn’t in anyone’s plans. My first thought was to abandon all my objectives for the year, due to the uncertainty about the future.

• Read more about Transforming Difficult Times into Great Opportunities

I never thought I would be saying that taking INSEAD's intensive French class pre-MBA was a truly amazing experience. In particular, I appreciated being able to bond with other MBA classmates, and sharing interesting facts about our lives while learning a foreign language.

• Read more about INSEAD's Language Policy: Taking French Classes

The decision to attend business school carries a similar importance to the decision of who you want your partner to be for the rest of your life. You won’t go to multiple business schools, nor will you start at one to realise that you wanted to attend another. Now that I realise, it’s even more important than choosing your life partner, since 3.2 people in every 1,000 get divorced in the U.S. Wow. Choosing what business school to attend is a very important decision in your life.

• Read more about The Journey to Discover Why

‘Embracing uncertainty: When the strategy is uncertain, the best managers acknowledge what’s unknown, but also look ahead to what is known.’ The Harvard Business Review (Special Issue) Summer 2020 Most of my work revolves around resilience.

• Read more about The Turning Point

This year will probably be remembered by the uncertainty we all faced. Back in January, we all no doubt made plans to travel abroad, start a new business, pursue an MBA, or seek many other projects that would have made the year 2020 an amazing one. However, things turned out to be completely different. 

• Read more about Why Invest In An MBA With So Much Uncertainty Around?

Starting an MBA amidst the COVID-19 pandemic is a decision that requires some courage. I still remember the feeling of my heart sinking six months ago, when I first learned the reality of how the COVID outbreak had impacted campus life all around the world.

• Read more about Living the INSEAD Life with Gratitude in the Year of COVID

“It’s no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then” – Lewis Caroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland It was 2AM, and I was lying in my bed in Dubai, perfectly content with life but hungry for change. Hungry for more. Contentment is a fickle friend and can lead to complacency.

• Read more about The Start of the '21J Journey