With my final team, for our final MMS class presentation.

I’m not going to see the same bright shining faces of my friends day in and day out. I’m done learning about the backgrounds of my diverse set of classmates that I’ve grown to know and love. We don’t get to play ping-pong between classes anymore. We don’t get to fight over the last set of fresh cookies late in the afternoon at the Fox Center. We don’t get to celebrate after each term is over… Just like that, it’s all gone in an instant.

At Duke's Last Day of Class (LDOC) celebration!

On the first day of the MMS program, a former MMSer told our incoming class that these 10 months would fly by faster than we could ever possibly imagine. And she was right. Of course, there were times when I wasn’t sure how I was going to manage my workload — but that’s part of the experience here at Fuqua.

It’s about testing yourself, and it’s about trying things you’ve never even thought were possible before. And it’s about surpassing the expectations of both yourself and others. It’s about doing the impossible. And I am happy to say that I think I’ve done it, with my own flair along the way.

A very bitter-sweet moment.

I’m going to miss my classmates, professors, and program directors — some, more than others, but all will be missed in their own special way. Each person, with their own unique background and set of experiences, combined with everyone else, is what makes MMS the special entity that it is. There are few institutions in the world that can provide this experience of a clash of cultures, knowledge, and personalities, in a way that is so beautiful and wonderful as the MMS program was. We’ve all been through ups and downs, but certainly more ups than downs. And we supported each other, lifted each other up, and helped each other when help was needed.

I’m not sure I’ll ever find as tight-knit of a community as within the MMS program. But I’m not sure that I want to, because I don’t ever want to detract from the always-changing, ever-dynamic experience that was the Master of Management Studies Program: Class of 2013.

Having fun on the mini golf course.

Work hard, play hard. It’s a mantra you’ll hear over and over at Fuqua. Luckily for us, it’s not just a mantra, but a true philosophy by which Fuqua students live. So it’s no surprise that recently, a group of us went to Frankie’s Fun Park for a day of fun and merriment. And this day was at no cost to us, it was sponsored by the MMS Association (students elect a student government, the MMSA, to represent the class throughout the year, and any MMSer is eligible to run for a position).

My fast and furious driving!

As soon as I arrived, I met up with Mike — our MMSA Activities and Social Chair. Mike has also arranged other awesome activities for us such as a ski trip to Wintergreen and the MMS Campout for Duke basketball tickets. Mike gave everyone a Frankie’s fun card that got us into any 3 attractions that we wanted to try.

Fun & Games

First stop? Laser tag. We divided our group evenly between Red and Green team members. Then, after a little bit of menacing trash talk, we got outfitted to play. We were equipped with light-up vests and guns, brandishing our team’s colors. The goal? To shoot the opposing team’s target to gain points, while defending your own target. This sounds relatively simple — until you realize that you have to defend yourself from being “shot” too. Oh, did I mention this is all in the dark?

The thrilling Sidewinder ride.

To my dismay, my team — the Red Team — lost. And surprisingly, I placed fourth out of my team with a score of about 30,000 points. I was pretty proud of myself … until I saw that the MVP of the Green Team scored over 100,000 points.

Afterwards, we made our way outside to the go-kart tracks. There were three tracks to choose from: beginner, road, and slick tracks. We all had a great time racing around the track, sometimes bumping into the outskirts of the track, or even each other. While there was no clear winner, it was clear that some of us are much better “drivers” than others.

Finally, we all decided that we wanted to try the ominous “Sidewinder” attraction. This is more comparable to a ride you would see at an amusement park or a state fair — intimidating in nature but completely safe and fun. Once we were all strapped into the circular base of the Sidewinder, it started swinging back and forth. The base also started twisting around. So off we went, back and forth, side to side, up and down. Some of my classmates were screaming, some were laughing, and some were just silent. But all agreed: the sidewinder was an awesome finish to a wonderful day.

As the day progressed, some students stayed around to try the other attractions at Frankie’s like arcade games and putt-putt mini golf. But I was exhausted, so I proceeded to go home and take a very well-deserved nap. I was so happy that the MMSA organized and sponsored such a fun event — it was a great break from studying, projects, and meetings!

Winternships range anywhere from investment banking to nonprofit work, so there’s something for everybody. Some are even paid! But the best part is that they are offered all over the U.S., and some allow students to work remotely. Some of my classmates winterned in exciting places like New York and Washington, D.C. and found that it was a great way to get a taste of life in another area in the U.S. But I chose to stay closer to home — right here in Durham, North Carolina. Since I was raised in the Triangle area, I wanted to stay here to see all my friends and family over winter break.

Tangible Takeaways

So my winternship process started as all internships do, with a job posting. I saw a few interesting postings on Fuqua’s career site, but one really caught my eye. A local company called Mi-Co was looking for a sales & marketing intern with some graphic design experience, which luckily, is right up my alley. After an application and a few interviews, I was so excited to find out that I got the internship. Another MMS student interned with me, but she worked in a different function. All in all, it was an awesome experience. My boss was very positive and encouraging, and he gave me a lot of freedom to work on projects that interested me. So, in addition to writing blogs and press releases, I even wrote my very first whitepaper! I also did some website design, customer insight analyses, and I got to tap into my inner designer by creating a new set of company business cards. These are all work samples and experience that I can add to my portfolio and highlight in future job interviews. After all, how many students my age can say that they’ve written a whitepaper?

Thankfully, Mi-Co seemed to like the work I did, as they offered to extend my internship. So I am still interning with Mi-Co, working remotely. The flexibility allows me to work when it fits into my school schedule, which is great for a busy student.

All in all, my winternship has taught me so much. I learned about marketing a brand — something that I will always keep in the back of my mind, regardless of where I end up working. Winterning has also helped me work on managing my time effectively, meeting deadlines, and becoming familiar with working in a professional setting. I feel very fortunate to have had this opportunity, which would not have been possible without the MMS program.

Sumternships

If you’re an incoming student, there are also options to work with Fuqua’s CMC to find a summer internship before you start the MMS program. I imagine that doing one of these “sumternships,” as we call them, could also be very advantageous for students. So check it out, and remember to connect with the CMC if you’re interested.

At the beginning of the year, the CMC sent us a survey to gather some insight on the industries that we’re interested in. The CMC then used the information to match each of us with Fuqua MBA alumni, who serve as VACFs. These alumni work in all sorts of industries such as consulting, marketing, general management, and finance. And trust me, these are companies you’re interested in. Ever heard of IBM, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Wells Fargo, American Express, Hershey, or Google? Yeah … thought so.

As part of the VACF program, we were required to perform informational and mock interviews with our designated alumni. Each VACF then provided feedback so that we could improve our interviewing skills and responses, in preparation for our real interviews.

My Amazing Alumni

I was paired with two incredibly successful professionals in the consulting industry — a manager with Deloitte and a consultant with Mars & Co. After my informational interview with my Deloitte VACF, she was tremendously kind and offered to let me come shadow her in Atlanta. She said the only way to know if I was truly interested in consulting was to get some real-time experience, and I agreed. Let me emphasize that she was in no way obligated to extend this offer to me, but that’s one of the benefits of having such a great Fuqua family — everyone wants to help you succeed.

So a few weeks later, I took a two-day trip to Atlanta, Georgia, to visit my VACF in the Deloitte office. She spent the day introducing me to her coworkers in both the Human Capital and Strategy & Operations departments. My VACF was also kind enough to set up about 10 informational interviews with her coworkers, so I could gain even more insight about the consulting industry. I was given the opportunity to ask anything, literally anything, that I was curious about. It’s not every day you get to sit in an office full of professionals who want to share their inside knowledge with you. Everyone in the office was so unbelievably kind and willing to offer advice. Not to mention, it was great to meet some fellow members of the Fuqua family. I could not have asked for a more positive and helpful visit to the firm.

Then, with my second VACF from Mars & Co, I was lucky enough to have our mock interview the day before I had a real interview. So after we were through, she gave me tons of positive feedback and answered some last-minute questions I had on various topics. She really boosted my confidence for the following day. Remember, the ability to exude self-confidence is something that can make or break an interview. So for that experience, I am also extremely thankful.

These experiences are not just unique to me, as some of my classmates have had equally positive interactions with their VACFs. One classmate actually landed an investment-banking interview after impressing his VACF during the mock interview. But like I said earlier, the VACF program is just one of several valuable opportunities that the career center organizes for MMSers, and they’re all worth taking full advantage of — you never know where they may lead you.

Wrong.

As the business world is growing and evolving, it is constantly seeking individuals from a wide array of different backgrounds to meet increasingly specialized needs. So B-schools are searching for people with more unique backgrounds, like me. That’s how I ended up here at the Master of Management Studies program at Duke.

Let me give you a little background on myself. I was originally born in England, and I spent the first 10 years of my youth shuffling back and forth between England and the U.S. (My dad worked for IBM, so Research Triangle Park was what drew my family to finally settle here in North Carolina). I went on to earn my bachelor’s in Fashion and Textile Management at North Carolina State University. This is really just a fancy way of saying that I majored in fashion design. I learned so much about the fashion industry at NC State, both through my classes and extracurricular experiences, like planning and executing fashion shows. I even had the opportunity to intern in New York City with Diane von Furstenberg’s print design department.

But as time went on, I realized that if I ever had the intention of working in an area other than design, then I needed some more solid education related to the business world. Yes, I can design and print my own fabric, draw my own fashion illustrations, draft original patterns, and sew my own garments. But without any savvy business sense, those skills can only take me so far in life.

So that’s how I ended up here at Fuqua. Like many others in the MMS program, I am here to learn how to leverage my preexisting product development and marketing knowledge in a way that others simply can’t compete with. So I am taking classes that are not only improving both my quantitative and qualitative skills, but also teaching me how to utilize these skills in meaningful ways that will make me a valuable candidate in my future job search.

In case you’re a little skeptical about the wide variety of diverse backgrounds in the MMS program, let me tell you a little bit about my team of 6 classmates that I have worked with for the past two terms:

Team Profile

Ages: 22-25

Undergraduate Majors:

• Fashion and Textile Management
• Food Science
• Finance
• History and Math (double major)
• Politics and Media
• Science and Technology

Undergraduate Institutions:

• Cornell University
• North Carolina State University
• Athens University of Economics and Business
• Bennington College
• Duke University
• Stetson University

Spoken Languages:

• English
• Chinese
• Greek
• Russian
• Spanish

Check out a typical class profile.

As you can see, diversity is very important to Duke, Fuqua, and the MMS program. So don’t let the name “Business School” fool you. Here, we embrace the various skills and opinions that individuals from different backgrounds can bring to the table. I will admit, I was a little unsure if I would fit in when I first started looking into the program last year. But after speaking with the amazing Admissions Counselor, Cathy, she reassured me that I was just what Fuqua was looking for. And she was right—because if that weren’t the case, I wouldn’t be here, in Durham, wrapping up my second term and eager to start my third.

Placing second out of 22 teams at my first consulting competition … “happy” doesn’t even begin to describe my feelings! My fellow MMSers and I were lucky to be given the opportunity to participate in a recent Accenture Case Challenge. (Learn more about the case method on the MMS website.)

I give the judges a copy of my team's presentation.

Now don’t get me wrong, this girl likes to win. In the wise words of Ricky Bobby: “If you ain’t first, you’re last” (from Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby). But for someone such as myself, who has an undergraduate degree in Fashion and Textile Management and absolutely no consulting experience whatsoever, placing second when competing against some of the best and brightest students in the world is pretty surreal. I took on this challenge, no pun intended, because I saw the competition as the perfect medium through which to gain some real-time experience in consulting.

Our challenge was to develop a product-launch strategy for a local nonprofit, ChangeEducate (CE). CE developed a curriculum to educate students on the current state of world poverty, hoping to encourage social entrepreneurship and change. In fact, CE was actually founded by Duke alumni. So the competition was about making a real difference for a company that’s not only a part of the Duke family, but one that’s making a difference in the world — something very special to me and my team.

Each member of my team presented to the judges. James made us proud when he spoke.

A Winning Team

The case competition was a team challenge, and my teammates were fellow classmates Pallavi and James (James is also a blogger, so be sure to check him out). We started on the quest to deliver a feasible strategy for CE by spending many nights hidden away in one of the team rooms at Fuqua. If you were to walk into our room, you would find us scribbling notes all over the whiteboards, eating some not-so-healthy snacks (note: garlic pizza is a stench that lingers overnight … remember that), and getting into debates over which ideas we should present and which we should just forget.

After many, many hours of diligent work, we finally submitted our preliminary presentation for Accenture’s review. Accenture was tasked with reviewing 22 proposals from my class, and then choosing 5 that would move on to the final presentation round. Two days later, after I had my soul stolen by my Financial Accounting Final Exam, I checked my phone and saw several congratulatory messages from my classmates. We made it to the finals!

In addition to the judges, we also presented in front of many of our classmates.

Being chosen as one of 5 final teams was an honor in and of itself. We were ecstatic to have made it that far. But our eyes were on the first place prize: a first round interview with Accenture. So with the help of our phenomenal Accenture mentor Andrew, we did everything in our power to develop the best possible strategy for CE.

The Final Result

On our final presentation day, my team called it quits in the wee morning hours and headed home. The plan was to meet up at school for one last practice session before the competition started at 9:00 am.

Well, imagine my surprise when I received a phone call from Pallavi at 9:00 on the dot. I overslept! That’s what happens when you neglect your body’s needs. Fortunately, my team was scheduled to present last — so my bear-like hibernation did not sabotage my team’s chances of success.

Pallavi in the "spotlight."

Just before noon, we presented our strategy to the judges. My team decided that CE should abandon its original plan of distributing its curriculum through teachers, and instead elect to lobby and have CE’s curriculum formally adopted as a part of high schools’ World History class. We provided CE with a strategy, an implementation timeline, and some important considerations to keep in mind.

After receiving some helpful feedback from the judges, the final results were announced and we learned that we came in second. I can’t tell you how proud I was of my team! We may not have won, but we definitely gained some invaluable experience. I could share everything that I learned — but that would take away from the fun of participating in a competition like this. So if you’re curious, you should consider doing a case competition when you come to Fuqua. (Current MMS students will have the opportunity to participate in another case competition with comScore in October).

Amazing Opportunity

One of the best takeaways from the case competition was that I got closer — way closer — to some of my classmates and met some amazing Accenture employees. So a big thanks to James, Pallavi, Andrew, and Accenture for making this an unforgettable learning experience. I am beyond grateful to have had this opportunity through the MMS program.

This competition helped prepare me for the consulting world in ways that I previously didn’t even know were possible, and gave me a new experience that I can highlight during my job interview process. In the end, I am happy to say that I was lucky enough to earn an interview with Accenture, on my own, even after coming in second place in the case competition! I am very thankful for the opportunity and am excited to see what will happen next.