“It’s humbling to be surrounded by such talented leaders—people who want to learn as much from me as I want to learn from them.”
I love music and have played drums since I was eleven or twelve, so when I came to Admitted Students Weekend and saw the band playing, and how supportive the Tuck community is, I knew it was for me. I played drums at the next two annual Admitted Students Weekends. It feels good knowing that I have helped show prospective students one of the many reasons that made me feel that connection to Tuck.
I was assigned to go out and have a deep conversation with a classmate, and then give a two-minute narrative to the class about that person. My background couldn’t have been more different than my partner’s so we had a lot to learn from each other. I’m not a very emotional person but when she told the class my story—my love of music and family—I felt it in my heart. Because of one assignment, a lifelong friendship had developed.
Professor Kusum Ailawadi introduced marketing principles and a framework that gave me a new way of evaluating how products are brought to market, and how to navigate and negotiate with channel partners effectively. What sets her apart is how she breaks down the complexities that can sometimes go with managing multiple evolving marketing channels so students learn to develop optimal strategies for managing the marketing channel.
General Management
Hartwell, Georgia
Fort Valley State University, BS, agricultural economics
U.S. Department of Agriculture, agricultural statistician, Athens, Georgia, 2007-14; Elbert County School System, music teacher, Elberton, Georgia., 2011-14
Tuck Center for Leadership MBA fellow; Consortium for Graduate Study in Management fellow; Tuck African Ancestry Business Association
First-Year Project at Chinle Hospital in Arizona on the economic feasibility of an orthopedic clinic for the Navajo Nation and Indian Health Services
IESE Business School exchange student, Barcelona, Spain, 2015
Land O'Lakes, marketing manager, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 2015
Prospective students during Admitted Students Weekend; Derrick Deese T’12 and other Tuck and Dartmouth graduate students; my classmates
Implementing Strategy with Professor Vijay Govindarajan
I’ve achieved a huge boost of confidence thanks to the Tuck curriculum and the overall Tuck experience. But it is also humbling to be a part of such a successful and talented group of leaders—people who want to learn as much from me as I want to learn from them.
Thomson Reuters, senior financial analyst, Minneapolis
