EMBA Student Describes ‘How to Maximize Your Investment’

Do Super Paradigms Exist?

Hi friends,

Graduate school has been a significant part of my life these past six months, and I’d like to share my experience.

For those considering an MBA, you’ll find a recap of my first semester and insights on what you might encounter, what to look forward to, and how to maximize your investment. For context, I have a business background (B.S.B.A in Accounting and Master’s in Accountancy), so many of the topics are familiar to me.

 

Program Overview

The Walton College of Business' EMBA program is designed to expand your expertise in core business functions and help you draw critical connections that impact your organization. Here’s how they describe it:

“With constantly evolving business requirements, employers need professionals with broad knowledge of how various business functions fit together. Our Executive MBA program will expand your expertise in core business fields so you can draw critical connections that impact your organization.”

 

Why I Chose to Return to School

Before diving into course details, I believe it’s important to share why I decided to pursue this degree. It’s crucial to have clarity about your mid- to long-term goals and how any program you choose can act as a pathway or accelerant to those goals.

I’ve been in the industry since 2018, working across CPG, Syndicated Data, and Retail. In corporate America, it’s easy to fall into a state of comparison, and I won’t lie—this was a small motivator. However, it wasn’t the most important factor. As I observed my peers and the leaders around me, it became clear that many had earned an MBA, and while not all MBAs are the same, this was something that seemed to play a key role in their career trajectories.

As I reflected on what skills I’d need to transcend industries and succeed in a changing landscape, I thought about the growing role of technology and the new challenges in the workplace. But most of all, I focused on building security and independence for my future family. I don’t have children yet, but I want to ensure I can support them and leave a legacy. Having grown up underprivileged, I recognize the importance of building on the sacrifices my family made for me. Leaving a legacy, and ensuring my future family has a better starting point, is my driving force.

 

What to Expect

Semester 1 throws a lot at you. Orientation is a two-day event that introduces you to the semester-long strategy class with Dr. Stoverink (who also runs the program). Without spoiling it, orientation is an intense experience that quickly tests your ability to work in teams with people you don’t know. This was a key theme throughout the semester: adaptability and the ability to form team chemistry to solve a common problem. This skill isn’t exclusive to business—it’s a life skill that is critical in any successful endeavor.

Post-orientation, our EMBA program meets once a month on Saturdays, and the courses you take are interrelated. These include Marketing Products, Ideas, and Services, and Business Analytics, which complement each other well. They combine abstract, theoretical concepts with the precision of data and statistics. To succeed in both courses, you’ll need to dedicate consistent time and effort—I would estimate an average of 10-15 hours per week of studying, depending on your familiarity with the material.

 

Course Summaries

• Marketing: This was my favorite course of the semester. It centers on understanding the human element of marketing—how to connect with people through cultural and personal experiences. The course teaches that marketing is not just about selling products, but about dignifying communities by understanding them at a deeper level. We discussed how marketing can have a positive impact on society and how this skill goes beyond business to solve real-world challenges.
• Data Analysis: This course was fun and served as a gateway into the world of data science. It’s a foundational course on statistical modeling, where you gain hands-on experience building models and analyzing datasets. This exposure to data science could be a career path in the future for me. The course also involved quizzes, group projects, and a final exam, requiring both recall and application of the material.
• Strategy: Fewer credit hours than the others, but still challenging. The strategy course is unique in that it’s built around a framework introduced in orientation. It encourages a mindset that spends 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about the solution, similar to Einstein’s approach. This approach helps ensure that solutions are human-centered and focused on creating value for those affected by the problem.

 

Maximizing Your Investment

I titled this article “Do Superparadigms Exist?” because in marketing, we discussed how cultural phenomena are often viewed through behavioral, cognitive, or cultural paradigms. The question was whether these paradigms could collapse into one unified framework. I think this idea extends beyond marketing and can be applied to graduate education. There are three key paradigms that I believe are important to maximize your investment in graduate school:

1. Purely Academic: This focuses on earning top grades and gaining academic validation, proving that you’ve mastered the material and earned your place in the program.
2. Relational: This paradigm emphasizes networking and building relationships that may turn into entrepreneurial ventures or future opportunities.
3. Mystical: Though it’s an unconventional term, I believe there’s an intangible component in graduate school that fuels creativity. Sometimes, we become so bogged down in the minutia of our careers that we forget how to be imaginative. The flashbulb moments that can revolutionize industries or communities often come from this aspect. These moments may not create multi-billion dollar corporations, but they can transform local businesses or even families.

To maximize your MBA, you need all three: comprehend the material, build relationships, and submit to the experience. This last point is often the hardest. It’s not that I think I know everything, but as business professionals, we’re often rewarded for our insight and ability to maximize profits. Detaching from this mindset to absorb what the program offers is how you grow—not just as a business professional, but as a person. Turning off your ego and embracing the collective wisdom of the community is the key to growth. The network effect of your peers will always be more powerful than isolated insights.

 

Final Thoughts

This has turned into a longer post than I anticipated, but I’m extremely proud of my first semester and grateful for the opportunity. I’m thankful to my cohort for challenging me and to the professors and staff who are helping me grow. I don’t know where I am on my hero’s journey, but I’m enjoying the ride.

Here’s our team taking 1st place in the challenge this semester – a cheers to us!