“Tuck helped me find the voice I didn’t know I had.”
Through one of Tuck’s most popular electives, Communicate with Presence, fifteen Tuckies and I inspired each other with our life stories. The empathy and vulnerability we showed in class quickly bonded us. As part of an assignment, I voluntarily paired with Connor Peasley T’22 to tell him my life story and to hear his. Connor is a West Point graduate and Army veteran who grew up in the Pacific Northwest. I was born and raised in China and worked in IT.
By pairing with Connor, I hoped that, despite our vastly different backgrounds, we could find some similarities between us. And we did. The deliverable of the assignment was to tell your partner’s life story in front of the class, and Connor told my story beautifully—better than I could have. Later that term, Connor and I signed up to become speakers at Tuck Talks where we shared our stories again, this time with the whole Tuck community.
The amount of support we received after our Tuck Talks was overwhelming. I was pleasantly surprised by the number of people (including professors) who told me they could relate to my story, even though we came from different countries, cultures, and religions.
Tuck promotes personal growth beyond our careers. The Tuck community offers a safe space that encourages personal reflection, and the Tuck culture recognizes the importance of success outside of our jobs. During my time at Tuck, I had many chats with Tuckies where we inspired each other with new perspectives around the purpose of our lives and careers.
I think Tuck’s intimate location encourages Tuckies to reach out to each other and stay connected. You can count on the Tuck community for almost any favor you need: a ride to Killington, a bag of flour, a mock case interview, a jumper cable, a dog sitter, etc. Many friendships sprung from these favors, and they happen every day at Tuck. Nature, of course, is also a big part of living in the Upper Valley. It’s not uncommon for students to schedule their electives to accommodate their skiing schedules, me included.
What I hope to share with future MBA students is this: Choose the school where you can see yourself grow.
Consulting, Health Care
Shenzhen, China
Dual Degree (Master of Public Health) at The Dartmouth Institute; Boston College, MS, Accounting; Southwestern University of Finance and Economics (China), BA, Finance
Senior Consultant, IT Risk, Deloitte; Global IT Compliance Manager, TJX
2021 Diversity Conference Co-Chair; Tuck Magnuson Incubator; Center of Health Care Fellow; Tuck Pride
Sizeable: For a group project during Entrepreneurial Thinking, a Tuck elective, fellow T’22s Chris White, Ryan McNamara, and I founded a startup to make the baby clothes shopping experience less wasteful and more sustainable. After the class concluded, we kept working on this concept with the Tuck Magnuson Incubator, which enriched our learning with real-world experiences such as market research, designing and delivering MVP, pitch competitions, and more. Such learning changed the way we think and will benefit us for the rest of our careers.
Strategy & Performance Summer Consultant, The Chartis Group
Communicating with Presence; Product Management in Technology
The pandemic helped me discover my passion for health care. As soon as I realized that health care is my calling, I talked to Marc Aquila T’07 from Tuck’s career services office, and he introduced me to a system of health care resources at Tuck. From career services to TDI’s MPH program, from the Center of Health Care to Tuck’s comprehensive health care curriculum, Tuck gave me all the resources I needed to grow as a health care professional
Strategy & Performance Consultant, The Chartis Group
Tuck helped me find the voice I didn’t know I had. With its rich academic offering, Tuck helped me identify my strengths and showed me how to amplify them. With its supportive community, Tuck gave me an audience who could relate to my life stories and vice versa. With its diversity programs, Tuck taught me the power of my identity and how I could influence others as an empathetic leader.
