I can’t believe the one-year summer session is already more than half way over; it goes by so quickly! I remember when we started in May, I was a little worried that just 39 students in the one-year MBA class would feel a bit small. But with the different backgrounds and interests of each and every student, I’m still finding out interesting things about my classmates, even though I see them just about every day.
The diversity of our class is incredible. We have students from India, Thailand, China, South Korea, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Nigeria, Russia, Bulgaria, Romania, and the Republic of Georgia, and we have students who have recently lived in Peru, Singapore, and Australia. We have consultants, bankers, accountants, marketing vendors and buyers, technology gurus, engineers, entrepreneurs, and many other professions in between. We have three dual-degree students, who are either doing an MD/MBA or a DPT/MBA–who give us an excellent perspective on the healthcare industry in class. We have an ex-military officer, war veteran, and lawyer, a former professional soccer player, a certified public accountant, and two Davis Cup tennis champions (and yes, they are twins!).
Diversity adds an incredible dimension to the learning experience in business school, inside and outside of the classroom. It’s amazing to hear perspectives on different industries and business issues from a country dissimilar to your own. When we were preparing an international expansion paper for our strategy class on the online travel agency Orbitz Worldwide, Inc., one group presented on expanding to China through a partnership with a Chinese company similar to eBay in the United States, while another group suggested expansion to India by partnering with a local online travel agency called MakeMyTrip. Both groups who presented had international students from either China or India with the “inside scoop” on the market and the feasibility of the expansion. We would not have been able to make such recommendations without their knowledge and ability to translate some of the research and websites into English.
Our learnings go well beyond the classroom. Over the 4th of July holiday weekend, our class got together to play soccer on Saturday morning (which my class calls “footy”) which has now become a regular weekend activity. We also had a barbeque and pool volleyball party with more food than we could have ever imagined. In addition to the traditional American BBQ-type foods, we had homemade Indian Aloo, spicy Nigerian chicken (and I mean spicy!), Venezuelan and Costa Rican ceviche, South Korean kimchi and lots of beer of course! One of our native Southerners brought fried chicken too. I’ve recently learned (being from the Northeast part of the U.S.) that no party in the South is complete without fried chicken. We’ve also talked about having some cultural-themed parties – I hear Eastern European, Latin American, and Indian themed-parties are in the works with great food, music, and maybe some dancing. The rumor is that one of my classmates is Punjabi and is going to teach us some Bhangra moves. I can’t wait!
I also can’t wait for the fall semester when we will join the two-year MBA students—the opportunities for diverse learning experiences, culture conversations, and parties will no doubt continue. Not only am I thankful for the unique experience that I’m receiving at Goizueta—very unique to its smaller program size—but I’m also looking forward to the great international network that I’ll have when I graduate. I don’t think I could get this type of intimate and international experience anywhere else.
2012 One-Year MBA Class
By Antonia Ciccolo
2012 One-Year MBA
Read the full article: Such a Diverse One-Year MBA Class of 2012