Student Perspectives

Student Perspective

Katherine Pease

Katherine Pease

MBA 16

Director of Operations
DITTO

Insight into 60+ Companies

According to Katherine Pease, “industrial engineering is as close to the business side as engineering gets.” Still, an MBA had always been part of her plan, to ground her in sound business practices, deepen her leadership skills, and lay a foundation that will allow her to take her career in any number of directions.

I had confidence to help bring people along in the face of change

I felt like I was getting insights into 60 different companies, just by being in the same room with my cohort members.

I’ve always been a fixer, wanting to make things better. Now, I have more confidence—and more skills—to help bring people along in the face of change.

We all realized just how much expertise our classmates represent

When I first told a classmate that my goal was to beat the class average in grades, he wondered why I had set such a low bar. I reminded him of the caliber of our classmates; their intelligence, level of insight and experience.

In Operations class, when we discussed service quality issues and strategies, someone suggested that Apple would have a hard time dealing with increased volume when it introduced its iPhone 5C. A classmate who worked in QS at Apple spoke up and told us how that had been planned for and wouldn't be an issue. It was an OMG-moment when we all realized just how much expertise our classmates represent.

I was excited to come to class every day

I loved the variety of the curriculum. I was excited to come to class every day, and I expected that will only get better once I started taking electives.

I worked on a research project for the BERC (Berkeley Energy & Resources Collaborative) on fracking. It was fascinating—a totally new topic for me. That was one of the reasons I was here: to explore all the things I didn't know anything about.

Our professors were so accessible, by e-mail, phone, Skype. I always seemed to get a reply within 3 to 12 hours.

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