Time flies, they say. Although I have heard these words on so many occasions before, their meaning could not be more relevant for me at present. On 1 October, I started my MBA journey and became a candidate for Frankfurt School’s Part-time MBA programme.
It has been a while since I graduated from university, and therefore going back to school means something special to me. Not only because of my career aspirations but also for pursuing my personal development goals with an MBA. A few weeks have passed since the opening day, and it is remarkable how fast these days have progressed.
So, finally, the day had come, and I arrived on campus. I was curious to see what this next chapter will look like. At this stage, my mood got lifted by a mix of excitement and interest stirred with a little bit of stage-fright.
The schedule of our kick-off day was jam-packed with speeches from faculty members and students, photo shootings, a campus tour and a dinner event. A current graduate’s speech referred to his MBA journey as “a path of changes, chances and responsibilities”. These were inspiring words sensing the challenge, the opportunity, and the hard work that lies in front of us.
It became easy to connect with my new classmates with a warm welcome from the Frankfurt School community. I guess this is what they call Frankfurt School spirit: being ambitious, encouraging, helpful, honest, and respectful.
On the next day, we continued our onboarding with the leadership camp hosted at Seeheim-Jugenheim near Frankfurt. The offsite was a real ice breaker and helped us to get to know each other much better. We engaged in various outdoor team building activities throughout the day. External coaches supported us as we constantly reflected on our interactions and shared our observations. If you want to learn how to build a shelter and improve your team-building skills and communication, this is the perfect place!
One of my personal favourites was the walk and talk exercise, which allowed us to share and receive feedback. I am still impressed by the depth of conversations we had, especially since we had just recently met each other. Our offsite concluded with finding a set of common goals and values. For my group, it was clear: Focus on your strengths! And yes, we had lots of fun and good laughs together!
Following our introductory weekend, we shifted up a gear and had our first lectures in Global Economy & Competitive Strategies. The professors were fostering lively debates through case studies covering a broad range of up to date business topics. This created a vibrant atmosphere in which we could share our different perspectives and opinions.
Let’s be frank; the first weeks were a lot of work with class preparation, presentations, exams and take-home assignments. But it is worth the effort, and there is no better reward than accomplishing a task with your teammates.
I am convinced that time will continue to fly, and I am looking forward to the following months of this journey. It is an opportunity to learn with and from a group of diverse and talented individuals. Maybe you want to ask yourself for a moment. Does time fly? And if your answer is yes, where should it lead you?
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