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.
