Let me take your memory a decade back. Yes, you heard it right. I am taking your memory to the early 2010s, when a management degree used to be the shortcut to success. There is no denying the fact that a management degree still holds the key to success in many jobs. But it is not the same anymore!.

So, it all started with a DREAM. When I was a bubbly and over-ambitious guy in my mid-twenties, exactly 10–12 years back, I was about to change the WORLD. I was an argumentative boy who always questioned whenever something was wrong. In those days, I dreamt of completing an MBA. I have always been good at studies, and possessing a master’s degree in management meant a direct flight toward a successful future.

But the future had some other plans in mind. And as they say, man proposes, but circumstances pass the judgment. I was already facing a severe financial crisis, but at least I dared to dream. I dreamt of changing the world. I dreamt of becoming a top management official in an MNC and changing the world—or you can say the company where I would be working—but all that was a mere dream.

Now, come back to reality.

I was still in my BCom 2nd year. I had already mastered most of the concepts of commerce, but somewhere I felt my qualification was incomplete until I got to do an MBA. I am saying MBA because a PGDM from top IIMs and IITs was already out of my dreams due to location constraints.

Gradually, after the BCom 3rd year, the D-day arrived.

I was anxiously checking my Bachelor of Commerce Part-3 (final year) result online… and hurray, I completed my BCom with around 70%. At this point in time, you might be feeling that I was very happy, jumping over the moon and floating on cloud nine—but actually, no. I was satisfied with my marks, but what made me concerned was whether I would be able to pursue an MBA or not. You can now consider it my dream course at that point in time.

I checked my bank balance. Well, studying for an MBA is directly related to your bank balance. It is not a general or conventional graduation or PG program that you can easily pursue. You have to invest around lakhs of rupees in an MBA degree. As expected, I was happy that there was some money with me, which I thought would be sufficient to complete the MBA program. But I was wrong!

I went to a nearby cybercafé. Yes, I didn’t possess a computer or PC at home in those days. Now, many may feel that someone who doesn’t even have a PC at home—how can they go on to do an MBA, when it already shows the family and financial condition of the student?

But I wasn’t like the other crores of students. I was adamant. I was a dreamer. As I already told you, I wanted to change the world. I wanted to do something out of the ordinary. I wanted to do something that would put me in the echelon of legends—of course, in a good league.

So, at the cybercafé—I still remember the day—I went there, and there were hardly one or two students who had come to fill out government job forms. Though I was a graduate, I wasn’t interested in government jobs. All I knew was to complete an MBA—the dream that I had harbored in my mind, body, and soul for so many years.

But reality struck, and God had some other plans for me.

I researched madly at the cybercafé, searching from one university’s eligibility criteria to another’s. In doing so, I researched almost all the universities and private institutes in the city. But what I obtained in the end was nothing but sheer disappointment.

Now, guys, I want you to answer this…

What was the disappointment? Did I fail to crack CAT? Did I have no money to pursue the MBA program? Was I, in reality, not interested in an MBA?

But whatsoever… don’t be like me. I have carved out my path after a lot of struggle. I don’t want you to go through those roads of thorns.

Conclusion

If you are a graduate, if you are in your twenties, don’t look elsewhere. Crack CAT and do an MBA. Even if you don’t get a good college or institute, still try to complete your MBA. And mark my words, you will really enjoy those two years of life and can literally feel the WORLD AT YOUR FEET!