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STUDENT NEWS
Postcards from Pullman:
My experience as a
first-year MBA student
I won’t lie; moving from Phoenix, Arizona, to
rural eastern Washington was a shock. Before I
came to Pullman to pursue my MBA, I had never
lived north of the Arizona boarder, and always
in metropolitan areas, so settling in to a small
college community in the middle of the Inland
Northwest was quite a change.
After high school, I moved to Flagstaff to
study electrical engineering at Northern Arizona
University. I was very involved in my undergraduate
studies, participating in the school paper, The Lumberjack,
where I learned about other universities, and
the NAU campus ambassador program where I worked
with people from all over the world. I even spent
a summer in Texas with total strangers at a youth
summer camp. But nothing in my past prepared me
for my move to Pullman.
Whether I should have or not, I just didn’t expect
any differences between the Northwest and Southwest.
Both are on the west coast, and are both relatively
young areas. Despite the apparent similarities, I
learned it’s the subtle differences that are important.
For example, I’ve always said “soda,” but here it’s
called “pop,” the sun stays out until 10 p.m. in the
summer, and this concoction called “fry sauce” that I
never expect to understand.
But I didn’t have much time to adjust—I had to
prepare for my first MBA experience. Boot Camp was
designed to introduce the new MBA students to the
College of Business and create a foundation of business
knowledge we could use in the classroom. It was also
designed to give non-business students like me critical
knowledge we would use in the program, including
spreadsheet design and modeling. It did that, but my
learning didn’t stop there. It introduced me to my
classmates and soon-to-be friends: 25 business peers
I would be spending every day with for the next two
years. It also helped me begin to make the desperately
needed adjustment from my old family in Arizona to
my new family at WSU.
The boot camp was capped off with three days at
the WSU Outdoor Recreation Center challenge and
high ropes course. There, we had to use our physical
and mental
abilities to overcome
barriers, both literally and figuratively. As
a team, we climbed walls, balanced on ropes, and
avoided obstacles while dealing with different cultural
backgrounds, language issues, and the fact that none
of us knew each other. It was challenging, but it really
helped us bond.
After the semester started and my routine had
developed, my transition to the Pacific Northwest
began to become much easier with the help of amazing
professors and a wonderfully developed cohort
system. I was constantly surrounded by support from
peers, professors, and the college. I was encouraged
to work in teams in classroom exercises and develop
relationships with my fellow MBA students. The
friendly, collaborative environment created by the
cohort format allowed me to truly understand difficult
material and develop teamwork abilities that came in
handy during numerous late-night study sessions.
My first year MBA experience has included amazing
opportunities. During my first semester, I was offered
the honor of representing the College of Business at
the PAC-10 Case Competition hosted by the University
of Southern California. The competition was intense
and the objectives were challenging, to say the least.
In 24 hours, we were required to research, analyze,
and create a solution for Hewlett Packard in the Carly
Fiorina era. We then gave a 20 minute presentation of
our solution to a tough panel of judges followed by 25
minutes of questions and answers.
My three teammates and I learned a lot, had a
wonderful time, and brought home a fourth-place
finish for WSU and the College of Business. I hope to
32 WSU College of Business