My Toughest Study Experience Continues...

During the fall of the year 2008, the crave for MBA somewhere in my heart drove me to take the first step. Hmm...that's when I started with my GMAT Preparation. With no serious study chart and with little interest, I was enjoying the fall and winter and one day, when I realised I was already in Spring - yes Apr 09. The So-called preparation bloomed and continued for next 4 months and in Aug 09, my first real GMAT experience - 2 days after my b'day :). Outcome was poor without any doubt :(


Just thought to take a week break, which got extended till Dec 09 unfortunately. Then triggered my preparation again for my second attempt. This time, i dont wanna call it a "so-called", because it was my real-study experience !!. With my tight schedule at work and project support for 24/7 ( not exactly 24/7 since offshore covers 8 hrs on weekdays though), GMAT is not a cake walk for me. Finally, after a while of my serious prep, got a grip of the pattern, which helped me to gain lil confidence.


The journey is certainly not an easy call. It has its own style of ups and downs. Trust me, had to give up my social life for past few months. Its been almost 1.5 years since I was not out of charlotte - yes it is :). I dont wanna blame gmat solely for the situation. Everything cooked up together - my interest towards studies, my prep, single POC at onsite for the project, mindset not to waste single min etc. With just 4 hours of sleep per day incl weekends for past few months, I was ready for my next real-take off.


The most important week of my life and the actual D-DAY. Here you go, today is the most awaited day of my real hardwork. From the title of this post, one can guess the result smartly. Yes the pay-back was not good, not even satisfactory but the only gud thing was its better than my first slot. Yes, the 4 hrs exam devastated my true expectations. I was totally lost for a while after i came out of the Pearson Center. Texted couple of my gud friends,who were expecting to hear a gud news from me, about the result. For the first time in my life, felt bad for not being a Native Speaker of English :(. After sitting idle in the car for a while, started to drive back home


Too many questions :"what went wrong ?, what s the real problem ?, didn't i cover all the reqd topics?, didn't i prepare well ?, was the level / amount of prep not enough ?, what was my weak area? how to improve? - all unanswered questions flashed in my mind when i was driving in I77- N and I85-N heading towards my home. The typical question came up as well - Do i need to prepare again / what is my next take ?.


I always used to think that GMAT is not my cup of tea. But this time, i decided to proceed with my next take-off and gonna start all over again. With the signs of Positive energy and confidence, I am gonna continue the journey... And hats off to my dearest friends who rocked amazingly well in their exams. It's not an easy show and YES, it is the toughest study experience ever in my life !!!....


-S Ak