Highlights of My Tuck MBA Experience
Why Tuck?
Leaving Italy and coming to the U.S. was not an easy choice. So I got in touch with other business schools and alumni. What struck me is that alumni from other schools kept telling me, “With an MBA my career has really skyrocketed. It’s a great opportunity to speed up your career. I learned a lot.” But then, when I heard from Tuck alumni, the first thing they would say is, “I fell in love with the place.” So I visited Tuck and I fell in love with the place. It’s a big choice, and sometimes it’s scary. But failure lies in not trying and not trying and failing. So I took a chance in order to become a better person and a better professional—and I’m very proud of my choice. It’s a great place to be.
Tight-knit, Real
Coming here from Europe is very challenging. It’s a new culture and you’re immersed in a totally new environment. But what I found right away was that the community is very tight-knit—it’s not just legend. It’s real. All my U.S. classmates were willing to help me with any red tape I was going through or anything I didn’t know how to approach. They helped me navigate the U.S. and navigate Tuck. Tuck has a lot of resources to help as well—the Career Development Office was very helpful. Whenever I was met with a challenge, I felt like everyone was always on my side willing to help. That’s really invaluable. You are allowed to make mistakes because everyone is supportive of you.
AN FYP in Brazil
For my First-Year Project course, we consulted with Worldfund, a nongovernmental organization in the education sector, to help them develop a new fundraising strategy. It was my first time going to Brazil and it was a bit of a cultural shock. There were parts of Sao Paulo that were very impoverished. We visited a local school where the children thought their destinies had already been written, and they could only succeed if they came from a rich family. Seeing all of this really reinforced my desire to make an impact in the world. When we came back, it was the first time we were able to work together as a team on a single topic, on a single issue. It was great because I had the opportunity to test some of the skills I had already learned at Tuck.
A Precious Gift
Enjoy the experience. It’s a transformational process—it’s something that changes you not only from a professional perspective, but a personal perspective. So, come here, study hard, find a job, but more than that, get to know people and enjoy the MBA experience. For the last two years of my life, I’ve had the opportunity to focus on myself which is really a precious gift.
