Min Zhao
Class of 2022
Hometown: Springfield, MO
Undergraduate University: Missouri State University
Class Year: 2014
Major/Minor: Advertising & Promotion, Sales Management
Current Employer: U.S. Army
Position: Combat Medic
How has the Mason School supported your education goals?
In 2016, I joined the Army Reserves and put graduate school on hold because training and drill took up a big portion of my life. I enrolled at William & Mary in 2020, and I was able to finish half of the MSBA program before I got called up by the Army to serve a deployment to Kuwait. I was overseas for almost a year and recently returned. The school has been very supportive and helpful with my return to the program.
What have you found to be unique characteristics of the program?
The MSBA at William & Mary was more in-depth in terms of the curriculum design, but what I think really distinguishes this program from others is that fellow students are from diverse backgrounds. I'm studying alongside music majors, economic majors, computer scientists, marketing professionals, and logisticians. To me, this is beneficial because we learn and grow more from each other's experiences.
I also found that our sessions with the Executive Partners provided us with a sense of how industry operates in the real world. It was very helpful to receive feedback from somebody who has been in business for decades.
How will this degree support your future professional goals?
Different organizations have different goals and projects, but certain technical and communication skills are universally valued. This degree allows me to acquire those technical skills while also enhancing my communication effectiveness.
What excites you about the field of business analytics?
I've always enjoyed finding better ways in doing things while growing up, so the idea of using business analytics to achieve similar goals for organizations naturally sparks my interest. We live in an age that is being transformed by big data, and business analytics gives us the ability to gain actionable insights into this ever-growing amount of data that is being created every single day.
