Blog
Blog
MBA Voices
MBA Voices
When I matriculated at HBS, on top of my worries about my qualifications (or lack thereof), I wasn’t sure what industry/sector I wanted to pursue for a summer internship. After some research and reflection, I focused on manufacturing. I was an aerospace systems and standards engineer prior to HBS, and I thought the manufacturing sector would provide me with opportunities to combine my technical skills with the business skills I was acquiring at HBS. [...]
As I packed my bag to return to Boston after an exciting 2 weeks in Denmark and the Netherlands, I could not help but reflect on my experience there. I traveled to Europe to participate in the Immersive Field Course on Decarbonization and Sustainability ― an MBA course that gives students an opportunity to get out of the classroom and put the skills they’ve learned into practice. When I first stumbled upon this course, I watched the video made by one of the professors and said to myself “I will definitely take this class.” I could tell that this experiential learning opportunity was so connected to the type of future I imagined for the coming decades. Although the time went by so quickly, I appreciated how much I saw and learned in such a short amount of time. I left feeling inspired by what other countries are doing in the sustainability space. [...]
A few months after graduating from HBS, I drove my Buick halfway across the country and moved to a state I’d never visited. When I arrived in Oklahoma, I became CEO of a union heating and air business. I soon discovered that HBS prepared me to lead a business I knew little about on day one. [...]
One of my mentors in college, Professor Barry Johnston, always encouraged me to seek out and solve the hardest problems. Another, Professor Emeritus Charles Cooney, taught me that the hardest problems often occur at interfaces between multiple sectors. The 2+2 program offered me a way to learn the language and tools I would need to tackle tough problems at the interface of science and business. [...]
My earliest assignments in Schlumberger were in the Gulf of Mexico on ships that were equipped to look for oil and gas ~40,000 feet below the surface of the water. Being the youngest engineer and one of the three women in a crew of 50 men reminded me of why my father had no female colleagues. This realization only increased my determination to do well. [...]
Load More Loading...
The views and opinions expressed in the MBA Voices blog are those of the authors.
Any political views shared by students are their own; HBS does not endorse a
particular party or candidate.