In January 2021 wide-eyed and excited for what the universe holds for me in the new year. I began chipping away at a life-long dream, pursuing an MBA program at a top-tier school. In 2020 as an adult I was diagnosed with a learning disability – one that had hindered my education goals. Irrelevant of that I still took the plunge. In January I began studying for the GRE exam, a test that I would never be able to do well on due to the cognitive disability but a necessary requirement. In April I sat for the exam, by this point I’d finished the majority of my essays and application recommendations were submitted. The application process was long and very arduous.
Today I received the official rejection from Columbia EMBA program, previously denied from Stanford MBA, MIT MBA and MIT EMBA.
I will admit I am not someone who takes “no” for an answer, I’ve struggled immensely to be where I am today. As a manager at a blue-chip company, woman of color, rising star at my employer, former startup founder; I thought I had the perfect profile.
Oddly as disappointed as I am, I am equally humbled as this was a blow to my inflated ego and an unseen lesson to be learned.
Inner dialogue:
“Guess what Puja-you thought you could do it couldn’t you”
“Well you can’t, it’s not for you”
“When one door closes another opens (who came up with this garbage anyway)”
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