As the great Austin Powers would say, “Allow myself to introduce myself.” My name is Willem Suyderhoud and I am a first-year full-time MBA student at UCLA Anderson. I’m honored to be one of the school’s social media ambassadors (it sounds very regal, doesn’t it?) and I look forward to sharing my insights and perspectives with you.
I wanted to be a social media ambassador for a few reasons. For one, I’m quite interested in social media and its ability to facilitate communication and connection in a way that was unfathomable just a decade ago. So taking on this role will hopefully add to my social media education (and hey, it can’t hurt to have on a resume). But I also wanted to do this in order to share my story with prospective students.
I come from what we at school call a “non-traditional” business background. Prior to arriving at Anderson, I was a television sports anchor/reporter/producer in Butte, Montana, Medford, Oregon and San Francisco. I was on TV for five years delivering nightly sports reports, so I didn’t have much time to learn about such fun stuff as net present value and regression analysis. As a result, I was a bit insecure as I embarked on the business school application process. I wasn’t sure if my background would scare off those wonderful folks in admissions. Seeing that I’m writing this blog post in UCLA’s scenic business school library, I guess I fooled enough people. Of course, I’m kidding. But what’s no joke is Anderson’s celebration of diversity. I have classmates who are Grammy award-winning musicians, standout division one athletes, and successful entrepreneurs. And the diversity isn’t limited to professional backgrounds. I now have friends from all over the world. I consider myself extremely lucky to be able to engage with these diverse and fascinating fellow students because I get a fresh perspective every day. In other words, the education doesn’t stop when you leave the classroom.
The point I’m trying to make is no matter what background you come from or where you come from, Anderson can be a great fit for you. I’m hoping that over the course of the year I can use this outlet to prove that.
Also, if you have any questions about the application process or the Anderson experience, please feel free to contact me. My e-mail is willem.suyderhoud.2013@anderson.ucla.edu. You can also follow me on Twitter @willsouthwood.
-Willem
