With all my flights and plans canceled due to a variety of “shelter-in-place” orders, I’m ready to embark on my next adventure: traveling from my bed to the couch to the kitchen and back to the couch. But it gets a lot more interesting! In this pandemic Spring Break, creativity and learning new things rule.
Booth’s Graduate Business Council didn’t leave us hanging. They immediately instituted a lineup of virtual events to facilitate social gatherings that complied with social distancing. The initial lineup of virtual events hosted by my fellow Booth students included: game night, yoga instruction, cooking lessons, trivia, and more. All of our virtual get-togethers will take place over Zoom, just like our Spring Quarter classes. We’ll see how these events turn out!
The Booth Experience’s Women@Booth series aims to highlight the experiences of exemplary women leaders at the school. Over the month of March, we will speak to women across Chicago Booth to uncover their past experiences, understand what brought them to Booth, and get a sneak peek into what lies ahead for them. We hope these stories bring to the fore the people who make Chicago Booth a great community to be part of and inspire women around the world.
The first person to be featured in this series is Julia Boserup. Julia is a former professional tennis player who chose Booth to sharpen her business knowledge and move into the world of management consulting.
“Tell Your Story” is a regular series that features our Booth community members in their own words. We learn about their unique path to Booth and other interesting personal highlights.
Where are you originally from? And what did you do prior to Booth? I grew up, studied, and worked in Bangkok, Thailand, with an exception of one year in Oregon as a cultural exchange student, which I enjoyed tremendously. Prior to coming to Booth, I worked in finance (investment banking and venture capital) and the technology industry in Thailand for around 5 years.
September 2019. I am finally boarding my United B787 from Paris to Chicago. 8 hours to go. I have already contacted many of the fellow exchange students to understand what weather to expect (spoiler: it was colder than expected!). Also, I have just figured out how to properly bid for classes. Finally, thanks to the help of an American pal, I am fully briefed on how to survive and thrive in Chicagoland. In my mind, I expect an extraordinary trimester.
As I type this, my browser is full of open tabs for Rent the Runway and Lulus.com. My fiancé just dropped by the mailroom to pick up the velvet bow tie he bought online. Partners around the country are booking flights to Chicago, and phones throughout MPP (the condo building where the majority of Boothies live) are buzzing from group chats discussing pregame destinations.
It’s that time of year again. Booth’s biggest event of the year, Winter Formal, is less than three weeks away! Boothies and their partners are dusting off the gowns and tuxedos they bought for a wedding three years ago because “I’ll definitely wear it again.” First Years are finally unpacking those stylish blue or grey suits and patterned ties that Investment Banking Group (IBG) and Management Consulting Group (MCG) wouldn’t let them wear during recruiting. I thought I would channel my excitement into reliving some memories from last year’s gala.
