Besides potential to increased earnings, a graduate degree also brings the delightful sensation of winning obstacles and achieving a goal. Setting objectives in life and being able to accomplish them is something that keeps us running, and always wanting to establish new goals so we can win again. Having a successful career is a goal, but not a self-contained goal because an outstanding career is the support we have for making our lives better. And an outstanding career will only be really outstanding if it is the foundation for a better personal life, one where there is room for family and friends. Therefore, having the means for improving a career that is the support for our personal life is also having the means for improving life itself, and this is what really counts. It is where a master degree comes. An MBA is the element that will allow a better level of employability, increasing the chances of having a successful career and in consequence a better life. I can mention some items that are the most relevant when I think of the value of a master degree:

• Intellectual challenge: if we remain for a long interval without challenging our mind, chances are that it will collapse. By creating new challenges we are feeding our brain with ideas and making it burn energy; this will renew our neural cells and keep our mind fresh.
• Increased employability: the concept of a job for life does not fit in our contemporary age. We need to excel ourselves in order to be able to offer more to the job market so we will be a desirable “product”.
• Broader thinking: thinking broader will allow us to think of a problem from different standpoints, making easier the problem resolution. Also, this is related to the way we think critically; the broader we think, the better our chances of finding answers.
• Personal realization: as I stated previously, this is related to the pleasing sensation of having reached the goals so we can set new ones and win again.
• Better earnings: as a consequence of all other values, this one is related to career improvement, but it is not a goal itself. It is more kind of a result; we do our best to improve and reach our really important goals, better earning will come along.
• Ability to seize opportunities: totally related to “employability”, this means also the ability for seizing the opportunities in life, not only related to jobs. Also, it does not mean necessarily being able to find new jobs, but to reach new positions and respond to new responsibilities in the current job.
• Acquisition of specific skills: any career growth has two possible ways, either as an individual contributor or as a manager. Today a master degree is an essential preparation for performing as a business leader, either as a manager or as an individual contributor.
• Increased self-confidence: also a result of a successful career improvement, increased self-confidence will happen as long as we are gaining skills and becoming able to apply them on real life.
• Better life: this is the biggest outcome of all other items. It is the ultimate goal I want to achieve by pursuing a Master of Business Administration degree.

All these points above only make sense because is of our character to be always looking for improvement; it is a human duty to excel ourselves, generation after generation. And there is no improvement without being able to outshine ourselves and do more. All of us want to be there and conquer a deserved place, but only few will be able to outperform the crowd and occupy the best spots. Thus, I strongly believe that to be better prepared for winning the race to the success, which means to win the eternal battle of surviving, we need to master ourselves in our field of knowledge. The world has plenty of opportunities waiting to be taken by the most capable of us. It is our duty to offer the best of ourselves to able to grab them. That is the reason why I enrolled in this MBA; that’s why I left the country I was born and came to a foreign land pursuing this dream named opportunity – but that would be another post.