My MBA Journey: A Modern ‘Odyssey’

Ilias Lappas

It is 10am and I am sitting in front of my laptop in Cape Town, in the middle of a fascinating study trip to South Africa, trying to reflect on my MBA experience so far. I feel very lucky because in a moment of creativity, I have probably found the best term to describe this experience: ‘odyssey’.

Though I believe that being Greek is the only thing I have in common with Odysseus, (the man was a genius!), I will try to approach my experience drawing on his remarkable epic adventure for a little bit of metaphorical help.

Instantly, the first comparison that comes to mind is that it is a long, long journey. Although it doesn’t last for 10 years, as the journey of Odysseus back to his home on the beautiful Ionian island of Ithaca does, an MBA starts well before the first day on campus, and finding the right program often involves a lot of searching.

My Reasons for Getting an MBA

I remember that I started thinking of doing an MBA some four years ago. To my surprise, I soon realized that there is a huge market out there; thousands of programs, offering you everything you can imagine, but this time at a premium - which was my next surprise! Just a quick example: The fees of the MSc program I graduated from were only a sixth of those for an MBA at the same university. It was then that I realized that postgraduate business education is a pretty serious business.

Having worked as an engineer and completed an aeronautical engineering degree in Greece and an MSc in aerospace dynamics in UK, I was more or less inside a beautiful 'box' of engineering ‘group thinking’, like most engineers. When the discussion topic was ‘business’ and ‘managers’, we would always fall back on stereotypes.

For example during my MSc studies, the most serious complaint of my lecturer in aircraft flight performance was that ”engineers saved the world, but still all these fatty financial and non-engineer managers are paid better”. To put it in another  way, the general stereotype in my work environment and professional network  was that engineers don’t need business education, simply because they are smart enough, and their analytical and structured minds help them to make sound decisions -- always better than those ‘fatty managers’!

I was lucky enough to get out of this trap, and I started to consider an MBA as a prerequisite for the engineer who really wants to go the extra mile in their professional career while widening their horizons with an integrated and comprehensive business approach.

With so many different programs to choose from, it became evident that I needed to define some clear criteria in order to find a suitable MBA program, as well as getting the best available information on this ocean of programs. I really wanted to study in Europe and get the maximum possible international exposure. I was also concerned with my age and how I could fit in a classroom of a full-time MBA, studying and working with young MBAs with limited working experience, as it is the case in the most full-time programs. Of course, I also had the option of an Executive MBA, but I knew that I couldn’t afford the fees.

How TopMBA.com helped me Choose an MBA Program

It was at this point in my search that TopMBA.com played a critical role for me. Not only have I signed up for the e-newsletter but I had also the opportunity to attend MBA fairs and one-to-one events in Athens and abroad from which I gained invaluable information that helped me to shortlist programs and eventually start the application process which finally led to me being accepted to the EDHEC Global MBA in Nice, France.

So far, to use our Odyssey metaphor again, we are still in Troy and we are preparing for the long journey. Probably the most exciting characteristic of an MBA program is that it is a once in a lifetime experience; for many people the last formal education they receive. While you get prepared in Troy you have no idea what the actual experience will be. Those might have been the thoughts of Odysseus before sailing from Troy towards Ithaca!

Please stay with us during this magnificent and challenging trip, as in the coming months we're going to face the Cyclops, the Laestrygonians and the Sirens. Don't be discouraged, though; the journey to Ithaca will be very rewarding. After all, it is the journey and not the destination that matters!

Ilias Lappas is an aerospace and defense professional with experience in military aircraft life cycle management.  He is a firm supporter of the multidisciplinary approach, which enables redefining problems outside of normal boundaries and reaching solutions based on a new understanding of complex situations. Consequently, he dedicates a lot of his time in studying and reflecting in various different disciplines and he is particularly excited to have been immersed in a truly multidisciplinary and multicultural environment in his Global MBA class in EDHEC Business School.