Connie Chai

When I graduated from college, I never thought I would go back to school to pursue my MBA. I had double majored in biology and English, and when I started my job at Target Corporation, I found myself in a foreign world that required me to forecast inventory, analyze financials, and manage operations.

I was able to learn on the job during that position and each subsequent one. However, I felt that I was missing foundational knowledge of how businesses operated, what certain numbers on financial statements meant, and what leadership could be. I also wanted to make a switch into the biotechnology industry and knew that B-school would allow me to build the necessary business foundation while granting me the 2-year white space to explore leadership and a new career.

Now that I am 4 months away from graduating, I am grateful that I took the time to learn and develop during my MBA experience at Fuqua. I’m excited to be joining biotechnology firm Genentech after graduation as a Commercial Rotation Development Program associate!

Emmy Komada

Before Fuqua, I worked in nonprofit development. I loved fundraising—advocating for and cultivating mission-driven organizations—but after seven years, I found that while my values remained unchanged and fulfilled, my focus had shifted, and my goals had grown. It was a pivotal, exacting moment in my career—and pursuing an MBA helped me embrace it.

In thinking, “why an MBA,” I see that the degree has led me from managing single programs towards designing and implementing infrastructure that improves entire institutions. It’s a dynamic degree, one with value that will expand and evolve as I build my career. I saw this value as a summer strategy intern, and will leverage it after school as a human capital consultant, where I’ll again focus on people and organizations, and further articulate my role in building better conduits for positive social change.