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Writer's pictureKate Wilson

Mindset Means More Than You Think

Just shy of two years ago, in January 2021, I embarked on my latest lofty goal of completing my Master of Business Administration (MBA). Obtaining an MBA is something I had been researching for a number of years and I could not get past the biggest hurdle for me…HOW AM I GOING TO PAY FOR AN MBA?! The price of doing my Masters was going to be more than half a year's salary for the single household income of me, myself and I. The world was still in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced me into a layoff early on, and there was a high risk of it happening again. Time was on my side, I had lots of it, which for anyone that knows me; this is rare. Hello opportunity.


At that point in my life (a soon-to-be 30-year-old), I was set on beginning my journey to obtaining my MBA. Furthering your education later in life is not all that uncommon; my mom did it too. My mom started her journey when I was in late elementary going into high school. I hated every second of her new schooling adventure. On the way to ringette, I either had to listen to her audio textbook blaring through the speakers of her Camry OR I had to read the textbook to her from the passenger seat while she drove me. Needless to say, I did not enjoy either task. My parents have joked that mom raised us till we were 9 and dad raised us from 9-18…and from my perspective - it isn’t far off. I vowed to myself that if I ever had kids, I was not going to do this to them. But now that I have been through continuing education, as my mom did, I understand how powerful this journey was in catapulting my mom out of her career rut. Now that I have been in the same shoes (well, almost)... it has given me a new perspective.


Now on my journey, I started scraping my nickels (because we don't have pennies anymore) and let me tell you, they don’t add up quickly when you have to get to $25,000 WHILE paying bills and on an entry-level salary. I was determined to put together a plan that would make achieving my MBA possible. Not only did I need to find the extra money to fund it, but I was going to need to find the time to make this happen! I came to the conclusion that I would borrow what I could through an OSAP loan to be able to get started and then after completing my MBA, I would sell my house, take a chunk of the profit to pay off my MBA debt and reinvest the remaining cash into another property that I could call home. Sounds like a good enough plan to me; let’s do the damn thing.


In the Fall of 2020 (about 8 months into COVID), I was accepted to the Australian Institute of Business (AIB); it was weeks before my 30th birthday. AIB was the only school I applied to and the only one I had an interest in ‘attending.’ It was completely online and was prior to COVID, so I felt it would be the best setup for me while I was still working. AIB has a large cohort of Canadian students, and I found myself in an amazing study group of fellow Ontarians before we even started. Our group had weekly phone calls in the beginning when we all had the same classes, and this was an integral part of my success in my studies. January 8, 2021, marked my first day of school as a Master's student.


Four months into my MBA, the inevitable happened… I was laid off from work again. It was unknown how long the layoff would last, BUT the timing was impeccable. It could not have been better timing for this new scholastic! Rather than panicking about how I was going to make my finances work, I buckled down and took on two courses at once. In the end this would move my timeline up two months early for completing my MBA. Eight weeks later, we were now mid-summer, I was back to work and low and behold, I was already a third of the way through my schooling. It started to fly by, and time management became a necessary skill to survive. By September, I was really feeling the struggle of making my finances work, so I picked up a part-time job bartending at the Sarnia Riding Club. In November (2021) I was presented with a new job offer…it was at that moment that I could feel my newly added education was paying off already. In late November, I started my new job, while I continued to bartend 10-15 hours a week and still buckled down on my studies. January 2022 rolled around, and COVID-19 had locked Ontario down again, which for me meant no bartending, and the doors at work were closed, although I was still working. This meant a little extra time for my studies. In the downtime of January, I also decided to register for a half Ironman that I would complete at the end of June. I have lots of time on my hands, so why not? Once work picked back up after the lockdown, I was working full-time, bartending part-time, studying for my MBA and now training for a half Ironman that I was just 5 months out from.


By the time June rolled around, I had already refinanced my house (which turned out to help me greatly pay off student debt), and I had decided to seize an opportunity and purchase a condo at Panorama Ski Resort in BC. I will admit, this was a stressful time, and quite honestly, it was a challenge to squeeze in time for calls with the mortgage broker, my amazing realtor in a different province and my local bank on top of everything else on my plate. But! By Canada Day (July 1, 2022) I had completed a half Ironman (ONE MINUTE short of my goal time, might I add), I was done 10 of 12 MBA courses and was the proud new owner of a Panorama condo. This Fall we even squeezed in a flight to BC in order to get that baby on Airbnb!


This may have taken a while to get to the point but I sit here and write this, days out from my 32nd birthday, having completed my MBA, while working full-time, bartending part-time, training and completing a half Ironman four months ago, completing a 10km open water swim nearly two months ago and buying an income property. I am not writing this to pump my own tires; I am writing this to make a point. My point is, if something is important to you, you will find the time, and you will find a way to make it happen. I’d be lying if I said this was easy. Be your own spokesperson and start doing something about achieving your goals. A plan means nothing if you do not act on it.


Someone once said, “everything is hard; you choose your hard.” This was the hard I chose for this stage of my life, and boy, has it been rewarding. Change your mindset - I will try, I can, I WILL. I have been teaching swimming lessons for 12 years, and I have heard from kids too many times to count, “I can’t do that,” and I correct them every time to say, “I will try.” You will surprise yourself with what you can achieve when you change your mindset. Something I still have to work on every single day.



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