For me, the MBA program was a life-changing experience. Professionally, I left Wharton confident that I had the skill set necessary to reach any professional goals that I set for myself. Wharton has helped me understand the other side of my decision-making on the job. Now when I am at work I have a better grasp of the client's thinking. With all of this knowledge it's almost like I am living in a different world. Personally, I took away from Wharton some lifelong relationships that have added to the quality of my life. The time and effort has paid off!

On leadership
More than anything, Wharton changed the way I think. I am now more critical of the decisions that I make. I am more aware of both the internal and external implications of the decisions that I make. I no longer make quick or snap decisions, only fast ones, and there is a huge difference.

Eye-opening diversity
Because I've always worked in construction, coming into class with people from such diverse backgrounds, cultures, and disciplines was really eye-opening. In my class there were students from Peru, India, and Pakistan, someone who works for Ryder, someone who works for Motorola. This made the study group experience really effective. When you work on a case together you get many different angles and it builds out your education. We did our Field Application Project (FAP) on my company, and it helped me better analyze operations and management. In that class and in other team projects, you get a chance to see how other people would handle the same situation, and you can apply the lessons learned to almost any industry.

Married, with children
Everyone in the program was at different stages of their lives. I am married with two children, and it was tough going away to school and studying on the weekends. One of things I learned to do is, when I came home from a weekend at Wharton, I would get my reading done on Sunday while I was still in school mode, and then I had more time with my family during the week.

Sponsorship value
I was fully sponsored, and that includes everything, even my flights and extra nights in hotels. Before I applied, I spoke to the president of the company and asked if he would consider sponsoring me for an MBA. When he said he would, I started looking at programs. I did a cost analysis comparing Wharton and an executive MBA program in Atlanta, where I live. When we looked at the hours of class time, the cost is about the same, even with the commute. The biggest driver for both of us was the value of that cost, given the quality of Wharton's program.