At 33, I’m a student again.
Specifically, I’m studying for a Master of Business Administration at Porto Business School.
A year ago I transitioned from employee to freelancer and now I’m making my initial forays as a freelancer/graduate student.
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I’m finding that a lot has changed since I graduated with my History degree in 2014. The most obvious is the role and availability of AI.
I’ve often wondered if History students in the age of the internet are held to higher standards on essay quality than their pre-internet peers, considering the ability to search for and read relevant journal articles online?
Now with large language models and other AI systems available as study aids, will my classmates and I be expected to produce a higher standard of work than a few years ago?
How much have teachers adjusted their approach and expectations to account for the availability of AI tools?
Will the tools enhance my learning or offer easy shortcuts towards completing tasks without truly grasping the concepts underlying the problems and solutions? A false dichotomy, I’m sure. The role of AI in my own learning will morph as the course goes on. I’m also sure that my classmates and I will each experience its impact differently.
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While studying has changed a lot during the past 12 years, so have I!
Perhaps the main change is that I’m more interested in asking the right questions than arriving at defensible answers. It’s a relief to not feel the need to reach a “position” on any issue imaginable.
I hope to bring some of this to my class participation, during the MBA. While it’s tempting to try to come across as erudite or accomplished, I expect the better value comments will be those that prompt a good discussion and leave my classmates and I thinking the question over in the days and weeks after class.
I’ll also have much more life experience and work experience to bring to bear in class. Especially given the practical subject matter in the MBA, this should be very helpful both for understanding theoretical concepts and for working out how these could apply to my post-MBA work.
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I’m excited to learn from my classmates, whose experience is varied and extensive.
Humanitarian work is – for better or worse – a bubble. By working for Medair from 2017 to 2025, I inhabited a bubble within the bubble. For the most part, our approach to leadership is characterised by a focus on quality, continuity, consensus, risk aversion, and taking responsibility.
These aren’t bad things!
But they can be quite limiting.
I look forward to studying alongside classmates whose mindsets and experiences differ significantly, and reflecting on how I can approach my own work differently.
Along a similar line, my classmates’ approach to study will also vary widely. I hope that by keeping my eyes open, I can try things that are working for them and refine my own approach.
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One aspect that hasn’t changed since I was an undergraduate: the goal of the course is less about imparting knowledge and more about who we become.
As history students, we became critical thinkers – able to analyse text and construct persuasive arguments …and able to bluff our way through group discussions when underprepared.
As MBA students, we’ll absorb some finance principles and learn some practical Excel functions, but more than that, I hope we’ll become better able to analyse, contribute, and lead across a wider range of situations and organisations. All this while remaining aware of our blindspots and shortcomings! 😉