Why I chose a Mason MBA
When life throws you a curveball, you have to hit it and run, since it may just be the best opportunity of your life. At least, that is what I have learned over the past couple of years during the start of my professional life - post undergrad. My academic and professional career so far has been an amazing roller coaster of an adventure, and the Raymond A. Mason School of Business represents everything I could have ever imagined in an MBA program.
William & Mary was introduced to me at the MBA Tour in Boston, Massachusetts and once I discovered it, I never looked back. From the beginning of my admissions process, I was afforded every courtesy and opportunity a potential applicant would want, and I know from my classmates that they experienced and felt the same. The admissions team made such an amazing effort to get to know me as I really am - not just another statistic or resume - and how my life, achievements, hobbies and choices led me to be the person I am today.
When I visited campus, I was guided through how William & Mary could help me discover opportunities unique to my ideal industry and fields. I spent an entire day meeting an incredible variety of people to talk with, learn from, and be inspired by. After a single day in Williamsburg, I knew for certain that the Raymond A. Mason School of Business was the school for me.
| Make It Be Anything |
When I was thinking about what to write for this post, I was hesitant at first about how to encapsulate the feeling of empowerment and confidence this program has already instilled in me through my first three sessions here (not to mention the first SPRINT week, which is an education in itself). Talking out loud about everything that I thought was special about William & Mary, my significant other joked from the couch that my MBA sounded like I could make it be anything I wanted… As in, Make it Be Anything… Ha ha, right?
Of course, he was only kidding, but it really struck a chord with me that as corny as that acrostic sounded, it was absolutely true. William & Mary has the perfect program mix of structure yet freedom to explore both existing, and new, skills and interests as we wish. It provides direction without limitation, even when our requests may be difficult. Someone once said to me that MBA students are the toughest to teach because we question and challenge everything. But to me, this is the best problem to have because it means the program is working as it should by engaging our interests and making us really think. Our program fosters a supportive environment of our challenging nature with the incredible faculty of experienced, successful and brilliant minds to push us even further, and who are always available to talk and advise us as leaders in their fields.
With the professors, career advisors, mentors, and my amazing classmates, the full-time MBA program offers us unlimited resources to not only learn and explore new careers, but to connect with others and have a voice in our education. This program has given me the confidence to reach out and ask complete strangers for advice, and it is remarkable how every person I have contacted has responded in a way that has altered my perspective or increased my perception of topics previously unknown to me. Also considering the alumni, guest speakers, and incredibly unique Executive Partners Program, William & Mary has connected me to all the people instrumental in my advancement thus far in my joint interests of marketing, analytics, and strategy.
Broad aspirations you may say, but I finally understand what it means to have a two, five, and ten-year career plan. Beyond the obvious, I can see the progression of where my career may take me. Forget the road less traveled, I am making my own path to find where I personally want to make an impact and change the world in as many ways as I can. William & Mary has and will continue to teach me how to find and evaluate opportunities that push me, every day, a little closer to where I have set my goals. There are rarely bad opportunities, but there are certainly better ones, and I believe that the Raymond A. Mason School of Business has prepared me to understand my aspirations and abilities so that I will be successful in any career I choose.
