Hometown: Sydney, Australia
Education: University of New South Wales, Sydney
Before Wharton: Business Consultant (Asia-Pacific region) at Teradata Ltd based in Singapore, Marketing Manager at Telstra Corporation in Australia
After Wharton: Corporate Strategy
The classes are designed to give you the most out of the experience, not just from the professors but from the discussions in class.
The biggest impact
The student body. The classes are designed to give you the most out of the class experience, not just from the professors but from the discussions in class. Everyone is extremely engaged. People are willing to stick their necks out with ideas that are not always popular. They are quite happy to debate anything put on the table, share their views, and that makes the class experience more enriching.
The faculty
I really liked our Ethics class. The issues that we talked about are things that everyone faces in business, but we don't want to talk about – everything from poverty to child labor. Professor Laufer was great at getting us to think outside the box and to talk about issues we were usually totally uncomfortable talking about. Every class was a big debate, and people walked out energized. You went into class having a view, and when you walked out, they were either strengthened or totally changed. The other was my Economics Concepts class with Jeremy Siegel. You go to class, and he talks about the economy and weaves in what's happening that week. Then you go home and turn on CNBC, and he's actually on CNBC talking about what he thinks about the economy. You don't get that in many other places.
Climbing to Mt. Kilimanjaro
Most of us had little or no experience, but we trained for it. It took us seven days to go up, and two and a half days to come down. We all made it to the top except for one person, who wasn't feeling well. That was a great trip. It was designed to be a leadership experience. I was chosen to be one of the leaders on summit day (14 hours of hiking that day!). It was an absolutely memorable experience. When I was doing my research on Wharton, I didn't know too much about the leadership ventures. I had heard from second years that leadership ventures were a great way of learning leadership in an uncertain situation. I purposely chose Kilimanjaro to challenge myself.
Involvement in the Nonprofit Board Leadership Program
Community service has always been an important part of what I do. In the first year, I was the community service representative for our cohort. It's a personal belief of mine that non-profits need a lot of business skills – it's something they lack. I wanted to be on a non-profit board to participate in the community at a higher level, rather than just as a volunteer. I want to guide the direction of the organization I'll be working on. I also believe people in business should be involved in the community.
Out for Business
When I was in Singapore, I took two weeks off to come to the US and visit business schools. I didn't know anyone so I emailed LGBT organizations at the schools I was visiting, asking to speak with someone from the club to show me around the school. Out for Biz at Wharton got back to me right away. When I came to visit, Wharton students met me at school and took me to dinner. That personal experience was just amazing. Right now, I'm the VP of admissions for Out for Biz. People actually have a view of Wharton as being stuffy, but once they get here and see what it's like, they realize it's extremely open.
