AJ Jensen - Why I Chose the Georgetown EMBA?

The following is an computer-generated summary of the video transcript.

I started the program in fall of 2019 and I set out with two goals in mind. I wanted to learn a language of business by expanding my fundamental business skills and also take more quantitative courses to get the experience. I also wanted to expand my network to be able to make a career pivot um and also switch industries at graduation. I was born and raised in Northern New Jersey to parents with international routes and my international travel growing up really fostered my identity as a global citizen and that in turn led me to pursue a degree in global studies as an undergraduate student and ultimately an M. B. A. And global business. I was hoping to get a job abroad when I graduated from undergrad. But fate had a different plan and brought me back home to New Jersey, where I was working with the public private nonprofit organization doing non market strategy work. It's there where I really learned the power that business has to shape policy and also shape our communities. Um, and I also wanted to make a shift into the private sector. So I wound up coming to Washington D. C, where I took a job with a small government relations consulting firm. When I started in D. C. I knew I wanted to go back to school. I was just unsure of the program or where I wanted to be and I wound up choosing business because of the versatility of the degree and also because I wanted to stay in the private sector. I also wanted to contribute to the growth of my firm and I wanted to take on more of a leadership role. In order to do that, it felt like I really needed the skills of the N. B. A. Uh to help me take that next step. I had no desire to go back to school full time or two leave the workforce. Um So I started looking into part time and executive M. B. A. Programs and that's when I came across the Georgetown MBA program in a luncheon that the MBA program was having for prospective students. It's there where I really saw the difference in the type of Georgetown student and the culture and I wanted to learn more. The turning point for me was at the end of the lunch, a few of the prospective students got together and and said we wanted to do a meet up to practice for our school interviews. One perspective student who is now a classmate even went so far as to say, let's make sure we're really supporting one another so that we see each other on the hilltop this fall. It was at that moment that I knew Georgetown was where I wanted to be and I wound up submitting my application exactly a week after the lunch. My biggest fear at the time of a submission was that I wouldn't be able to contribute in a meaningful way just because of a lack of a formal business background. Um and also my inexperience with finance and accounting, thinking that that would put me at a disadvantage in the program. I remember talking to the admissions counselor when I went in for my interview and remember him saying to me, don't worry about not succeeding in the program, you will succeed because of the intensive collaboration um that we have as part of the program and in hindsight, he's exactly right to succeed in the program. You need to be a team player, You need to contribute as much as you listen. You also need to be a proactive problem solver and thinking about all of the fellow cohort members and students I met all of the 2019, they really encompassed all of those attributes. So we've been online ever since uh last March, but we were lucky enough to spend two residencies together And also many weekends in class together, which was a great experience. The last 19 months um have been an adventure to say the least. They've also been incredibly transformative and rewarding, personally and professionally.