From working in commercial finance at one of America’s leading multinational energy companies to getting first-hand experiential and immersive learning from the Strategy track of the MQM program, my decision to join Fuqua has undoubtedly been one of the best decisions I have made.

After working with the finance team in a multi-billion-dollar conglomerate in Nigeria, my interest in understanding the core drivers behind how businesses operate piqued. Although I have always been interested in business, from starting my first small business at the age of nine to graduating with an accounting degree, this work experience heightened my curiosity to understand how companies operate due to the huge focus on strategy and operations. Beyond my interest in business, I was also keen on upscaling my technical skills in financial planning and analysis, which I soon discovered required more and more data analytics knowledge and expertise. At that point, I realized that I needed a graduate-level education to bolster my business acumen and bridge the gap in my technical skills.

I began my search for a program that cuts between the intersection of strategy and analytics and eventually found the MQM program. The curriculum is unique because of its balance between technicality and business knowledge. It also provided an option to choose from four tracks (Strategy, Finance, Marketing, and Forensics). I took the opportunity to pursue the Strategy track and learn how businesses make data-driven strategic decisions. I was particularly interested in the strategic management, operations analytics, and data visualization classes.

I have learned a lot about diverse business problems. The case-driven class discussions have helped me understand the reason behind the success of certain businesses and why some businesses fail. One of my key highlights was working on a consulting report for my team’s hypothetical client—for which we deeply analyzed the client’s business environment, industry, business model, and strategy. We discussed how analytics affected our client’s industry and provided recommendations on how leveraging analytics could effectively allow the client to upscale the business based on a thorough analysis.

Through the program, I have gained first-hand knowledge of how companies make confident decisions using various data analytics tools, techniques, and models through the technical classes. As a finance professional, I now feel more confident than ever in the skills I have garnered. I have been able to merge my experience in finance with strategy and analytics, which has made me a well-rounded professional.

Editor’s note: Since this blog was written, the Forensics track was redesigned, and the track name was changed to Risk.