- March 23, 2026
- 6 min read
How can an MBA elevate your personal development? Students share their stories
From making new friends to developing an entirely new mindset, the MBA experience is as much about personal growth as it is about impacting your career prospects
Molly Baker
Published in
Student Experience & ROI
Sponsored by HKU MBA
During an MBA you’ll gain a wide variety of opportunities, allowing you to develop your communication skills and meet new people from all over the world.
An MBA can bolster your career, helping you achieve your goals whether they be achieving a promotion, getting a salary boost, or landing senior positions within multinational organizations.
However, the generalist degree can be just as beneficial for your personal growth. During an MBA you’ll gain a wide variety of opportunities, allowing you to develop your communication skills and meet new people from all over the world. After graduation, you’ll come out of your MBA a different person.
To learn more about how an MBA can elevate your personal development, we spoke to two current MBA students at HKU Business School. Here are some of the ways they feel the program has helped them grow.
That was certainly the case for Indian MBA student Tejaswi Kumar. As a self-described introvert, he admits the transition to an MBA was initially a challenge. He doesn’t enjoy speaking about himself and can sometimes find it difficult to find his voice in social situations. However, soon after entering the HKU MBA he says he started to overcome these difficulties, which he largely puts down to the small cohort.
“It really helps you,” he says. “It creates an intimate sort of environment. You get a safe space to speak into, and that's where I started speaking.”
The small class size at HKU made it easier for Tejaswi to forge connections with his classmates and faculty. That was a huge selling point for him, and he encourages other students considering an MBA to factor it into their own decision-making process.
“If I had been a part of a bigger program where this much personal attention wasn't being given to me, I wouldn’t have had as much flexibility to allow me to study at my convenience while balancing other life and work demands. So that's something that should be taken into consideration as well when you're making a decision.”
Hong Kong is a unique location in many ways. It’s one of the most densely populated areas on the planet, which can be thrilling and intimidating in equal measure. However, Tejaswi believes a place like Hong Kong can have myriad benefits for your personal and professional growth. For instance, he explains how its intimate nature lends itself naturally to socializing and networking, making it easier to make new friends and create career connections.
“I knew that once I landed there, I would have to find my feet and talk to people all the time,” he explains. “And I think that environment is already made up in Hong Kong, so it might make my life easier to do what I'm trying to do.”
Jaekyung Shin, a fellow HKU MBA student from South Korea, agrees. She explains how Hong Kong’s dense population doesn’t just make it easier to make new friends─it also helps you maintain those new connections you’ve made.
As a new arrival to a city, that makes a big difference, she explains: “Hong Kong is quite a small city, and everyone knows everyone. It's quite easy to encounter people in the middle of the road, or if you go to some event then you will definitely bump into someone you already know.”
“Each of us gets assigned to a different career manager, and they help you a lot,” Tejaswi explains. “They listen to your needs. They listen to anything you have to say on a professional and a personal level that might affect the sort of work that you do.
“They take everything into account, and then they expose you to the connections that they have built over the years so that you can see what's right for you.”
Of course, the MBA careers team doesn’t simply take control of your job search. They give you advice and provide you with recommendations, but, as Jaekyung explains, they also encourage you to get out and start making the professional connections that can secure your post-MBA job.
“The school is often encouraging us to do more coffee chats or go on company visits or to do more networking,” she says.
Ultimately, having that kind of steer from experts doesn’t just help you when deciding which career path you want to pursue, it gives you extra confidence in your career choices and reinforces your decision to study an MBA.
For Tejaswi, his HKU MBA experience has been transformative. “When I look at myself six months ago, I wasn't so confident [a person],” he admits. “But now, I'm much more confident in my abilities and what I can do with them.”
As for Jaekyung, it’s not just the sense of achievement that has helped her to develop. She says that the HKU faculty are constantly encouraging her to leave her comfort zone and follow her dreams. It’s a combination that means the MBA has given her more confidence than she could ever have anticipated.
“Since being here, I have met wonderful friends and the faculty always encouraged me to do what I want to do and figure out myself more,” she says. “So actually, now I feel more confident [than ever before].”
To learn more about how an MBA can elevate your personal development, we spoke to two current MBA students at HKU Business School. Here are some of the ways they feel the program has helped them grow.
Small class sizes help you forge new connections
Though some MBA programs have class sizes that run into the hundreds, programs such as the HKU MBA tend to limit theirs to 50 or 60. This is designed to create a welcoming and tight-knit environment that can help students to flourish.That was certainly the case for Indian MBA student Tejaswi Kumar. As a self-described introvert, he admits the transition to an MBA was initially a challenge. He doesn’t enjoy speaking about himself and can sometimes find it difficult to find his voice in social situations. However, soon after entering the HKU MBA he says he started to overcome these difficulties, which he largely puts down to the small cohort.
“It really helps you,” he says. “It creates an intimate sort of environment. You get a safe space to speak into, and that's where I started speaking.”
The small class size at HKU made it easier for Tejaswi to forge connections with his classmates and faculty. That was a huge selling point for him, and he encourages other students considering an MBA to factor it into their own decision-making process.
“If I had been a part of a bigger program where this much personal attention wasn't being given to me, I wouldn’t have had as much flexibility to allow me to study at my convenience while balancing other life and work demands. So that's something that should be taken into consideration as well when you're making a decision.”
Moving to a new city allows you to grow as a person
Although what you’ll study in an MBA is important, where you study is arguably just as crucial. Location can have a huge impact on your experience─if you don’t enjoy living in the place you’ve chosen, the already challenging MBA experience could soon become overwhelming.Hong Kong is a unique location in many ways. It’s one of the most densely populated areas on the planet, which can be thrilling and intimidating in equal measure. However, Tejaswi believes a place like Hong Kong can have myriad benefits for your personal and professional growth. For instance, he explains how its intimate nature lends itself naturally to socializing and networking, making it easier to make new friends and create career connections.
“I knew that once I landed there, I would have to find my feet and talk to people all the time,” he explains. “And I think that environment is already made up in Hong Kong, so it might make my life easier to do what I'm trying to do.”
Jaekyung Shin, a fellow HKU MBA student from South Korea, agrees. She explains how Hong Kong’s dense population doesn’t just make it easier to make new friends─it also helps you maintain those new connections you’ve made.
As a new arrival to a city, that makes a big difference, she explains: “Hong Kong is quite a small city, and everyone knows everyone. It's quite easy to encounter people in the middle of the road, or if you go to some event then you will definitely bump into someone you already know.”
Expert job advice gives you career clarity
Another underappreciated aspect of an MBA is the direction it can provide for your career. Both Tejaswi and Jaekyung highlight the value of the HKU MBA careers team, which provided them with personalized advice to help them pursue their post-MBA career path.“Each of us gets assigned to a different career manager, and they help you a lot,” Tejaswi explains. “They listen to your needs. They listen to anything you have to say on a professional and a personal level that might affect the sort of work that you do.
“They take everything into account, and then they expose you to the connections that they have built over the years so that you can see what's right for you.”
Of course, the MBA careers team doesn’t simply take control of your job search. They give you advice and provide you with recommendations, but, as Jaekyung explains, they also encourage you to get out and start making the professional connections that can secure your post-MBA job.
“The school is often encouraging us to do more coffee chats or go on company visits or to do more networking,” she says.
Ultimately, having that kind of steer from experts doesn’t just help you when deciding which career path you want to pursue, it gives you extra confidence in your career choices and reinforces your decision to study an MBA.
An MBA gives you the confidence to speak up
An MBA is a huge undertaking. Acceptance rates at the world’s leading programs can be less than 10%, which means even getting accepted into a program is an achievement. But as you progress through the course, navigating the various elements of campus life and starting to master the content, an MBA can give you a confidence boost that’s difficult to find elsewhere.For Tejaswi, his HKU MBA experience has been transformative. “When I look at myself six months ago, I wasn't so confident [a person],” he admits. “But now, I'm much more confident in my abilities and what I can do with them.”
As for Jaekyung, it’s not just the sense of achievement that has helped her to develop. She says that the HKU faculty are constantly encouraging her to leave her comfort zone and follow her dreams. It’s a combination that means the MBA has given her more confidence than she could ever have anticipated.
“Since being here, I have met wonderful friends and the faculty always encouraged me to do what I want to do and figure out myself more,” she says. “So actually, now I feel more confident [than ever before].”
Molly Baker
Published in
Student Experience & ROI
Molly is the Editorial Assistant for GMAC. She has an M.A. in Magazine Journalism and a B.A. in English Literature and Creative Writing from Cardiff University.
