One of the perks of designing your own MBA and your own internship is being able to set work aside for a moment so you can sit by a creek and watch the sun set beautifully. Before coming to Booth, I was a consultant in Lagos, Nigeria, where I saw most of my sunsets through the window of an office building or a vehicle in traffic.
Since I’m going to be sharing my Booth experience going forward, I’d like to start with the basics and tell you a little bit about myself. I share a family with four amazing sisters :). My undergraduate degree was in computer science, but before the ink dried on my certificate, I had decided I wanted a totally different path. Thus, I ended up in a consulting firm. A couple of years down the road and I decided I wanted to focus on agriculture, so of course I headed straight to get my MBA.
Believe me, I’ve heard all the versions there are of “people don’t go to business school to go to the farm,” but it’s what I want and it’s what I’m getting at Chicago Booth. (More on that throughout the year.)
Off the career path, I am an experienced learner and I say that with all pride ;). I’ve learnt sewing, French, guitar, piano, baking, Spanish, drawing, candle making, and some other things that I don’t remember now. I’m planning to re-learn a couple of the items in the previous list, hopefully, I’ll actually retain them this time. I’m also a writer (chances are some of you have read my application blog, which will remain unnamed) and an excellent photographer (trust me on this: I’m good ;).
This summer, I’m working on strategic projects for an orchard in California. Like I said earlier, design your own internship. It’s not that different from the general recruiting, just a decision to follow a particular path regardless of where the path twists and turns. I plan to use my time here to learn about agriculture and gain “field” experience. Literally.
I also hope to use this time to understand the solutions that have been implemented by US farmers and to develop solutions to current problems facing farms. The thing about agriculture is that it’s one of those fields that really don’t change much from place to place. So, I hope the exposure will add experience to my skills as well as help me decide which aspect of the industry I would like to focus on for my career. It’s a long way from home, but right now there’s no place I’d rather be.
In the coming months, I will be sharing a lot with you all and if you’re expecting to hear about a “typical” MBA experience, you may be surprised. Then again, you’re visiting the Booth blog, so it’s safe to assume you’re not looking for typical, rather for something that is exceptional; well, you’re in the right place.
