MBA
United States
Government
2021-22
We are excited to welcome the Oxford MBA Class of 2021-22 to Oxford this September. Get to know our incoming students in this blog post series as they prepare to join Saïd Business School.
Sector/Industry you worked in pre-MBA: Government, Public Health/Healthcare
Sector/Industry you are hoping to work in post-MBA: Government or Non-Profit, Health or more general social impact
Country of residence before coming to Oxford: USA
College: Green Templeton College, I read it was a great place to run into other MBA students, and they have accommodation for families.
Best friend: Tenacious
Manager: Dependable
I’m from a really small town in the American Midwest (shout out to Menominee, IL!). I grew up in an old farmhouse in the country with my parents and four sisters and was always enamoured with the world beyond our cozy farming community. Despite not having opportunities to do so themselves, our parents always encouraged us to get educated and see the world, so we did! While bouncing around with my husband from California to Texas and back to Iowa, I managed to get through a bachelor’s degree in anthropology. In 2010, I followed my husband’s career to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, a cluster of small islands which make up a US territory. We planned to spend two years on the islands, not anticipating the decade-long epic that would play out. I got a part-time position to work on health promotion at the local health department. Within two years I had been promoted to special assistant to the CEO of the Corporation, a position I have been truly fortunate to hold since. I recently completed a Masters in Public Health but realized I need business skills to make greater impact in health and healthcare. The opportunities to learn about social impact on a global scale at Oxford led me to this program.
For the past few years, I’ve tried to incorporate more and more business thinking and strategies to my public sector job. Conducting break even analyses, teaching myself about cost allocation, writing business plans for services expansions, and researching policy impacts on health care markets have been some of ways I’ve tried to do this. I came to the point that I wasn’t sure I was doing the subjects justice by teaching myself these things and am ready for formal learning.
I hope to gain confidence in my business skills, friendships, and exposure to new opportunities for social impact.
Listen first, speak last.
Give yourself plenty of time to think about why you want to pursue the MBA at Oxford, and don’t hesitate to put it all out there. Even if you don’t feel like you “fit the mold” of an MBA student (I certainly don’t!), be candid about what is motivating you to apply and why you’ve decided an MBA is the right next step for you. The Oxford MBA program values genuine people who have thought deeply about what drives them.
I’m actually really excited about just the core curriculum. It will be such a relief to finally get formal training in business and feel more confident in my knowledge and decision-making. Other than that, GOTO, the Impact lab, and Map the System make me feel certain that I chose the right program. Before my husband started researching MBA programs on my behalf (I didn’t think I was cut out for it), I didn’t know such an impact-centric program could exist in the MBA world.
I sometimes find motivating myself to be difficult when I’m faced with a hypothetical challenge rather than something happening in the real-world and within my orbit. I’m hoping to be able to tie in problems that I’m already familiar with, but I know I’ll need to branch out from my comfort zone. I work very well when I get to solve real problems and can bring the solution to life, but I’m sure there will be plenty of theoretical or hypothetical problems posed in the course work, and I’ll need to power through an armchair approach. Also, double entry bookkeeping is terrifying to me. I’m hoping the program will help me alleviate this fear.
I would feel comfortable continuing work in the health care space, but am open to other sectors. I kind of fell into health care accidentally, and haven’t had much exposure to other people working for positive change through business. I’m excited to learn what other students are working on and learning from them.
I hope to be a part of the social impact lab and am very interested in participating in the map the system competition. Systems mapping is time consuming, but extremely helpful with problem solving, so I’m looking forward to expanding my ability to apprentice problems.
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