Duke Daytime MBA Student Blog

I came to Fuqua eager to test how my legal training would translate in a broader business context. I was used to helping clients think through risk, structure and consequences, but I wanted to better understand how strategy is built when the problem is still evolving and the answer is not immediately clear. Through the Fuqua Client Consulting Practicum (FCCP), I had the opportunity to take on a real business challenge in the relatively unfamiliar food sustainability space.

While I expected to learn about business in an emerging market, I did not expect the Global Academic Travel Experience (GATE) to South Africa to challenge my assumptions as deeply as it did. Over the course of two weeks, I encountered a country that was far more complex, dynamic, and hopeful than I had imagined.

The opportunity to get my hands dirty working on a real-life business problem, and see the impact we were making in real-time, went far beyond classroom learning for me.

I came to Duke’s Fuqua School of Business with the goal of building out my strategy skillset.

Companies from different industries come to Fuqua’s campus with fascinating challenges, so I was very intentional when handpicking just a few of them to participate in, focusing on gaining exposure to industries I was genuinely interested in.