I am a Nigerian Risk Management professional who decided to get back into the classroom after 12 years of being away from a structured learning environment. The covid-19 pandemic presented a unique opportunity for me to take a slowdown in business to upskill myself and prepare for future challenges in my career.

I chose Warwick because it is a top ranked MBA programme worldwide and it offered modules which spoke to my passions and future career interests. Modules such as investment and Risk Management, as well as Entrepreneurial Finance. The most valuable parts of the programme have been my electives and also my cohort. For a large part of the year, my cohort and I were mostly stuck in our rooms. We thus had to be innovative about how we interacted and online games and drinks nights were born. This helped the cohort bond in more ways than would have been possible. I have been part of a team of MBA consultants which revamped the interaction and clearly defined the roles of the Board of Trustees and executive management of Springfield Minds. In addition to this, I worked with Knight Frank as part of my dissertation to upscale its risk management function. Both projects were pretty challenging as they were time bound. However, they served to sharpen my project management as well as people management skills.

The careers team at Warwick Business School has been really helpful. They have given solid advice on how to go about the job application process, as well as conducting mock interview sessions. In addition to this, they give one on one advice to individuals who seek it on ways they can make themselves more attractive to recruiters.

For the most part, the work life balance of the MBA is very relaxed, and life coasts pretty well during these times. However, just like in real life situations, there are periods wherein there are deadlines that seem to occur back-to-back and then you just have to suck it in and give it your all.

To anyone preparing for a year on the Warwick MBA be prepared to have your mind, capabilities and perceived abilities challenged and broadened. Come in with the mindset of knowing what you want to achieve and be prepared to put in the work to do this. At the same time be flexible and not too harsh on yourself because even the best laid plans tend to get derailed. It would also help if you know there would be some down moments of frustration where you may cry. There is absolutely no shame in that as long as you pick yourself up afterwards. Finally, the MBA is for a year and this may seem long at first. However, all good things end, so make the most of it while it lasts.