There is one particularly nightmarish question that students uniformly fret about during interviews “Why do you want to do an MBA?” There is no particularly great answer and several ones where we can dig ourselves a mighty hole.
In August, the more relevant question now in August is why one should prepare for CAT. The beautiful answer is Fear. We are all afraid of one thing. Our entire professional ambition is based on this fear. The fear is of getting sucked into the mediocrity that we claim to detest.
Figure out a mechanism to have this fear of mediocrity drive you towards diligent effort. The initial response to mediocrity is fear, but if that fear is not capitalized on, soon our system comes to accept the mediocrity. There-in lies the real trouble.
It is time for the real deal now
Some like to plan well ahead of time and execute it to a T; but for most of us the correct amount of last-minute stress is important to even get out of bed. As for the CAT-prep is concerned, we are approaching the business-end of preparations. If you are serious about MBA aspirations, now would be a good time to put the head down and prepare intensely.
If the 12-month marathon is not your kind of thing, plan for CAT as a 100-day sprint and fuel yourself with last-minute panic. From my own experience, I can tell you that, if used well, last-minute panic is a wonderful tool.
August 15th is a good day folks, a wonderful time to start something new
Around the time of independence, Winston Churchill had this to say of India “Power will go to the hands of rascals, rogues, freebooters; all Indian leaders will be of low calibre & men of straw. They will have sweet tongues and silly hearts. They will fight amongst themselves for power and India will be lost in political squabbles.”
We have done alright. We are far from perfect, but still hopeful about the future. The day the Country celebrates the occasion of its birth is as good as any to go boldly towards new frontiers. If Nehru and Gandhi had not been dogged and optimistic, we wouldn’t have gotten this far. Now it is up to us to reach out for our own ambitions, sign up for tonnes of work along with a bumpy ride, and hope for the best.
Best wishes for CAT preparation.
Rajesh Balasubramanian takes the CAT every year and is a 4-time CAT 100 percentiler. He likes few things more than teaching Math and insists to this day that he is a better teacher than exam-taker.
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