Written by Raphael Fonseca, Global Ambassador and Masters in International Marketing student Class of 2018.

There are many types of people in the world. Some people are relaxed and take life as it comes, others like to plan their life minute by minute. I’m the kind of person that always tries to control everything. The kind of person that makes excel spreadsheets for trips, and overthinks when making any type of decision. With that in mind, you can already imagine how hard it was for me to quit my job of six years in Brazil and decide to go and do a one year Masters program in the U.S. It’s not a bad thing to want to have control of aspects of your life, but one thing that I often need to remind myself of, is that you can’t control everything, no matter how hard you try.

I made one of the most important decisions of my life. I bought a one-way plane ticket and I still don’t have any idea of where I’ll be or what I’ll be doing after graduation. For a person that likes to control everything, it could sound rather scary. But amazingly, I feel fine about it all. Sometimes it feels good not to be in control. It can sound obvious, but sometimes you just need to enjoy the ride. If you’re not enjoying the ride, you’re definitely in need of a change.

[Reaching your goals] will depend more on your attitude than the school or course that you choose.

The meaning of change

Change can mean a new job, a new city, a new hobby, or even just making more time to do the things that make you happy. For me, change meant studying in another country. Studying abroad is an investment of money, as well as an investment of your time. But as the word “investment” suggests, everybody involved is investing in something and waiting for a future return.

For some people, the return will be a new job or a new career, for others the return will be life experience. Even after these two short months of study, I can already see that you can reach both objectives through doing a Masters at Hult, but it will depend more on your attitude than the school or course that you choose. If you are thinking about making this decision in the near future, be prepared to jump head first into this experience. The chances are, you won’t regret it.

If you are going to try, go all the way. Otherwise, don`t even start.

Charles Bukowski

Are you prepared?

You might be thinking, “OK, you’ve convinced me that it would be a great experience, but I don’t know if I’m prepared for studying abroad.” If you asked current students if they felt fully prepared when they first signed up, most of them would most likely say a resounding “no”. Perhaps you worry about the language barrier in a foreign country. Maybe you’re questioning whether or not it’s the right time in your life to do further study. I would say that if you’re forever waiting for the perfect moment to try something new, the reality is, that at some point it may become too late.

One thing that helped me a lot during my decision-making process was talking to someone that has done the same program before. In general, people tend to help others more when they have been in the same position as them before. If they’ve been through it, they can relate and empathize. If you don’t know anybody to talk to, take a look on social media and find some Hult students. Or even better, talk to us – the Hult Global Ambassadors. We are here to share a student’s perspective of what Hult life is like.

If, after reading this, you are still not sure that a business school abroad is what you want, it isn’t a problem. For some people, this decision is made at 22 years old and for others at 49 years old. There is no right or wrong way in this respect. The most important thing, is to take this decision because it is what is right for you. Knowing your “why”, the “what” and “how” will follow. Good luck in your search.