Yay! I have an MBA!

Between the 1st and 7th of December 2018, I was in Dubai for a 1 week Special Executive MBA programme organized by the Metropolitan School of Business & Management. On my course timetable were topics like Business Strategy, People Leadership and People Management for Senior Managers, Marketing Management and Financial Management. Phew!

On the 1st day of class, we were put in teams for the duration of the programme. My team members (all guys) nominated me as team lead. Huge leap seeing as we were all just meeting each other for the first time. I was nervous but I accepted the nomination and worked with my beautiful team. We were tasked to present a business plan to an international board of directors on kicking Coca-Cola out of the UAE market!

At the end of the programme:

• My team won the pitch! Our presentation was scored best because of presentation skills, time management (I had to put my foot down to get this!), detailed research amongst others.
• My team was announced Best Team throughout the programme.
• Uchechi Onuoha (that’s me!) emerged 3rd Best Student. Oh and I believe I was the youngest in the class.

This was a beautiful experience and a large part of it was learning from the experiences of others. We had entrepreneurs, MD/CEOs and professionals who have been in their field for years; I was pretty much a fresher with just 2 years work experience (minus all my holiday jobs and internships). Though I’m beginning to learn I don’t sound or act like one.

During my stay in Dubai, I had 2 homes — Jood Palace Hotel, Deira (which was booked by the Metropolitan School of Business & Management) and JW Marriott Marquis Hotel, Business Bay (which i stayed in after my programme ended). Both hotels were very lovely. I went on a Yatch dinner cruise with my classmates and also did the Desert Safari (my first time was way better. Our driver wasn’t very adventurous). I made solo visits to the Dubai Aquarium and The Top, Burj Khalifa (both at the Dubai Mall).

If it was common to put our qualifications as titles the way PhD holders do, my name will be Uchechi Laura Onuoha, BSc, MSc, SEMP-MBA!

I’m excited for 2019.