There was a time when I could tell you the takeoff weight of an Airbus A320, list out V-speeds from memory, and explain engine failure procedures like I was born to do it. I’d read the entire A320 flight manual like it was a story book. I’d even shortlisted flight schools in the US and could picture exactly how life as a pilot would unfold.
But dreams don’t always take off the way we imagine them to. Sometimes they reroute. For personal reasons flying had to take a back seat. And just like that, the only future I had envisioned for myself slipped away. It wasn’t dramatic. I didn’t feel lost. Just unsure of what direction to move in.
So I chose something that felt stable: a Bachelor’s in Management Studies. It wasn’t because I had some long-term vision of becoming a businessperson or a banker. I just thought, “Maybe University is the place to figure out what comes next.” That was my only real plan: to stay curious and be open to possibilities.
In my second year, I had to pick a specialisation: finance or marketing. I chose finance because I wasn’t particularly drawn to the chaos of marketing. But life has a funny sense of humour and that same year, I landed a freelance job to work in marketing with Netflix India. I remember thinking, “It’s Netflix, why not?” and I didn’t overthink it. And I’m so glad I said yes. For two years, I worked on campaigns, trailer launches, and events, and got a front-row seat to one of the most fast-paced industries in the world. It wasn’t finance, but it was a crash course in communication, people, and pressure. Looking back, I learned more then than I realised at the time.
Around the same time, I also interviewed for a Summer Analyst role at Morgan Stanley. It was for operations, and I made it all the way to the final round. And then… nothing. No rejection. No offer. Just silence. It stung more than I thought it would, and I couldn’t stop wondering “what if?”
By the third year of my undergraduate degree, things started to feel clearer. I was still working with Netflix, but I found myself gravitating more and more toward finance. I liked the logic of it. The way it demanded precision and structure, but also judgment and logic. It didn’t feel abstract anymore, it felt engaging and purposeful.
So when the time came, an MSc Finance degree felt like the natural step. I didn’t want to just study finance, I wanted to really understand how the world of finance works, and where I might fit in. That’s when I started researching Master’s programmes: reading course outlines, watching campus videos, and reaching out to alumni on LinkedIn.
Everything I saw pointed me towards the University of Edinburgh. The structure of the programme, the way it balanced theory and practice, the way the Business School connects students to the real financial world - it just made sense!
Now, sitting here in the MSc Finance programme, I sometimes think about that version of me who memorised aircraft systems and thought flying was the only way forward. I didn’t know it then, but that version of me wasn’t wrong. Because everything that’s happened since: the unsure choices, the unexpected internships, the silent rejections, they weren’t detours. They were routing me to the destination I always needed to find.