Well. This is it. I was conferred my Master’s of Business Administration degree yesterday. There’s so many things that I could say in this blog post but I will keep it short and simple. These past two years were absolutely wonderful. I was pushed out of my comfort zone entirely and although I’ve faced immense amounts of stress and anxiety and brain power, it really was all worth it in the end. I can now say that I did my MBA while working full-time. And the accomplishment of that made me realize that I really can do anything I put my mind to. So let’s just see what I do next in life!
To wrap up this post, I will leave you with a speech that I did at my MBA Gala back in April. I’ve never really considered myself a great public speaker but somehow, once again, I pushed myself out of my comfort zone and did what I knew I could do deep down inside. Hope y’all enjoy!
Good evening everyone. For those of you who haven’t seen my billboards and magazine ads all over town, my name is Taylor Doucette and I am a Fast Track Part-Time student here in the MBA program. I started out working in the MBA office three years ago and I was always so jealous seeing all the students doing their MBA. They seemed so excited about classes and case competitions and joining clubs and I couldn’t wait for the day that I would start my own MBA journey. I would dream of all the classes I would take, all the clubs that I would join, that elusive 4.0 GPA I would achieve. I really couldn’t wait.
And then the pandemic hit.
And like many of you, I started to question if it was the right time to do my MBA. After all, in addition to the obvious learning and class component of it, I was really there for the social interaction as well. I wanted to meet new people, go on study tours, join clubs and have the best two years of my life essentially all while improving myself both career-wise and knowledge-wise.
I know, small goals.
And although these past two years have been some of the most hectic and stressful ones of my life as I’m sure all of you agree, I feel like I have definitely fulfilled those goals that I had originally had. And it’s really all thanks to the people in this room.
I still remember the first time meeting my friends in person after only seeing them on Zoom for a year. It was such a surreal experience meeting people in real life when you only really know a certain side of them from what you can see either in classes on Zoom or discussing group projects online. I was terrified that these people I so quickly connected with over Zoom would not be the same in real life and these friendships I made would quickly dissipate. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. From the moment I met everyone, I knew these would be the lifelong friendships that I had heard previous MBA alumni always speak and rave and gush about.
Without being too sappy, I am just so excited to be graduating soon with all of you and no matter what happens, we will always have these memories of the past two years together. I can’t wait to see where the world takes us. I know that each and every one of you are going to do great things in your life and I feel so proud and privileged to witness what amazing people you are.
And so, thank you everyone for making this MBA program so special. And, to wrap this up, I will finish with a quote that I actually used as my grade 12 yearbook quote (we’re really coming full circle here):
“You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. You can’t get there by bus, only by hard work and risk and by not quite knowing what you’re doing, but what you will discover will be wonderful. What you will discover will be yourself.”
Thank you everyone.
And a special thank you to everyone in my life who has supported me on this journey. I truly couldn’t have done it without the constant well wishes and love from my family, my boyfriend, my friends, my classmates, my boss and my colleagues (oh, and of course Oakley). This experience really made me realize how privileged I am to not only have the opportunity to earn this prestigious degree but also be surrounded by so many people that care about me and just want the best for me. It warms my lil’ heart each and every day. I love you all.
Shop The Look:
Dress – Aritzia // Shoes – Marc Fisher // Grad Cap – University of Alberta // Self Tanner – St. Tropez // Dog – Oakley the Goldendoodle
Check out my previous graduation outfits!
