Superstars

Grades finally came out about two weeks ago. It took the administration over a month to get it together and hit us with the sad truths that teachers in Spain consider 80s to be “very good” scores. Furthermore, I managed to finally learn that one, in effect, cannot bullshit on an accounting exam.

The delay in the release of scores caused an immense amount of anxiety for myself and my classmates. You would think that a 57,000 Euro tuition pays for a bit more efficiency. Needless to say, the daily calls from my mother- inquiring about my grades- insinuating that I did have them and was withholding information- well, that didn't help. And the rest of the student body, regardless of the motivation- overbearing parents or not- were trapped in the purgatorial uneasiness of not knowing what the last four months of our lives actually amounted to. Meanwhile, two students’ worst nightmares were realized as they were asked to pack their ESADE messenger bags and leave- a month into the second term.

I can’t say that I did amazingly. But I’m still here and with regards to the others, I suppose that's an accomplishment. I came into the MBA with ambitions...aims that are now relatively laughable. 

Reviewing these targets of mine now, with an acute understanding of what an MBA actually requires, seem not only incredibly unlikely, but quite bizarre. 

-I wanted to graduate valedictorian, or at least at the top of my class. At this point, I’m happy to graduate at all. 

-I planned to generate business plan after business plan- to be the most entrepreneurial person in Barcelona. 

-I had hopes of sketching out my life so that there would be no more uncertainties. 

-I wanted to effectively morph into a business superstar. Yet the fact that words like “superstar” are still in my vocabulary is most likely a slight indication of the incongruity of my objectives and the brain floating around in my head. 

I can’t say that I’m not learning. I am. I’ve already learned more than I expected- more than I had hoped. And with that realization, my frustration with the administration, and my disappointment with myself for not reaching the top with my grades- all that, is mitigated. Because that's why I came…to learn. And that's what I’m doing.

At least I know now what a business plan entails.

Maybe 2nd term will be my “luminary era.”

We’ll see. Anything can happen. And as my first grade teacher used to tell the class at the end of a week- “We’re all superstars.”