I spent two years in public accounting, and then transitioned into a financial accounting position within a publicly-traded company where I worked throughout the course of my executive MBA experience. While at Wharton, I was introduced to the field of Investor Relations. Coming from a background in accounting, I felt like an MBA would allow me to transition into an IR career, in which I could ideally partner my financial skills with the broader business, communication, and analytical skills I sharpened through the Wharton program. After completing my EMBA, I was able to transition out of my assistant controller position into a role as director of investor relations for my company. I have since moved into an IR role at a company with ten times the market cap in a much larger and more complicated industry. Without the Wharton experience, I do not believe I would have had the ability to move into IR, much less had the credibility to succeed in my subsequent transitions.

A transformative experience
Wharton changed me tremendously. At a surface level, it introduced me to a new career that I hope will be a successful transition for me. More significantly, Wharton introduced me to the fact that there are a number of "right answers" out there — particularly when you have bright and eager minds gathered around the table. I learned to appreciate new perspectives on situations based not only on my experiences, but also on those of my classmates.

Effective leadership skills
An effective leader keeps the end goal in mind, while guiding team members to achieve milestone steps along the way. An effective leader listens to different perspectives, weighs the alternatives, makes a decision, and then follows through. At Wharton, I was regularly challenged to develop these leadership skills, whether inside the classroom or out. I think most students in the program expect a lot from one another (not to mention themselves), which drives people to develop and demonstrate these qualities throughout the program.

Valuable role models
The Executive Speaker Series introduced me to a new career path. The former VP of Investor Relations for Federal Express spoke to our class and taught me about a field that I ultimately decided to pursue. It was a very valuable experience for me — one I hope to convert into a successful career.

Exceeding expectations
Wharton far exceeded my expectations. I was consistently impressed with the expertise demonstrated by the professors, and I was even more impressed with their ability to clarify complicated subjects. The other standout was the caliber of my classmates: genuinely talented people, on top of being great friends.

Involving family
I took tremendous advantage of the Partners and Family Programs. Coming from Texas, I was eager to have my husband see where I went every other week. It was important to me to make him part of the MBA experience, fearing it would otherwise be viewed as “that thing that took up all my time.” He came with me to Philadelphia often, even during weekends when no formal family activities were planned. He met my classmates, became friends with them, and learned to appreciate the people with whom I was sharing the rare and remarkable experience. That made the experience something for us to share, rather than something that stood between us.

Refreshing to be uprooted
The best part about executive student life is that it is incredibly refreshing to be uprooted every two weeks from your daily routine and thrown into a completely different environment — one that is casual, yet professional; challenging, yet collaborative; demanding, yet fun. In order for each of us to make the most of our student lives, Wharton students often go out of their way to meet people and enjoy the social atmosphere of being back on a college campus.

On requesting sponsorship
In order to obtain sponsorship, I developed a personalized compensation package that took into account the impact of company sponsorship; this package had to be approved by executive management before they committed their support. From the outset, my company was been incredibly supportive.