WHY MBA

Before Tuck, I worked in a very technical field: electrical engineering. Many of my managers were MBAs, and they told me the value of taking a step back for a couple years to get an eagle eye view of the industry, the many roles that exist within each industry, and have a chance to focus on what the perfect fit is for me in terms of a career. Beyond that, I wanted to be able to round out my education and develop myself as a person.

BECOMING A STORYTELLER

The first year at Tuck, you're put on the spot in many different ways. You're cold-called. There are high expectations for preparation for class. You have to deliver your answer in a very coherent way. Coming from a more technical, closed-space background where you're a team of scientists working on crunching numbers, it was very different for me. Trying to learn how to articulate what I was thinking was actually a big challenge for me.

Since I was going into sales at Watson, I needed to be able to craft a story on why someone should buy the product. When you’re recruiting, you’re essentially selling yourself for a whole year. Once I learned how to sell myself, I knew I could go to a company and sell a product. Additionally, in our classrooms, we’re trying to sell an idea or come up with a compelling reason why we reached a certain conclusion. That was also helpful in learning how to add some meat behind not only the story, but also the reason why someone should buy a Watson product. All of these things really helped me articulate and craft compelling stories so I could jump into the job at Watson.

HOW TECHNOLOGY IS SAVING LIVES

Tuck has already allowed me to make a social, transformational impact during my summer internship. At IBM Watson, we helped pharmaceutical companies accelerate drug discovery, oncologists make better informed recommendations for treatment, and even uncovered previously unknown connections between patients’ diseases and potential treatment options. On the sales team, I had the opportunity to see firsthand how technology is saving lives. And this only scratches the surface of what technologies such as natural language processing and machine learning can achieve. Whether it be through sales, marketing, or product development, I plan to leverage my degree to continuously reach those who need help and discover how technology can further fulfill their needs.