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)” 

“Stay strong and true to your faith, for everything happens for a reason, there is something better in-store for you, you can’t see it yet” 

Ego is the enemy.