About Allyson: Allyson Mason (’22) is a first-year FTMBA student at Anderson. Prior to business school, Allyson worked as a forensic accountant with a focus of civil and family litigation. Outside of school and professional work, Allyson loves to play golf and watch the Dodgers and enjoys spending time with friends and classmates!
Do you ever let your mind wander and think back to how you used to have so much free time in undergrad? Maybe you were heavily involved in a club or were on one of your school’s varsity sports teams. Maybe you had a part-time job on campus. After working for 5 years in an 8AM to 5PM job, I was definitely nervous to transition back to school.
So, what is it actually like to transition back to being a student? First, identify your number one goal of pursuing your MBA. Are you pivoting careers? Do you have a business idea that you want to see to fruition? Are you trying to expand your network? As the full-time program is only two years, identifying your main goal is key to the success of your MBA experience.
For me, I wanted to pivot careers into the real estate industry and grow my professional network. During the summer prior to school, I spent my free time reading as much as possible and trying to game plan my MBA experience. Once the summer quarter began, I truly understood why my friends who previously pursued their MBA were so busy. You want to do everything but there is only so much time in the day. However, as I quickly learned, class time is roughly 10 to 15 hours of your week.
Given that you only have class for a few hours each week, what are you supposed to do with all of your free time? Since my goals were to pivot careers and grow my network, I would spend my free time reading up on the real estate industry. Additionally, I attended various real estate lectures, workshopped my resume, and brushed up on my interviewing skills. I wanted to make sure I put my best foot forward so that I learned everything I needed to know to land an internship position within the real estate industry. Moreover, in order to grow my network, I spent as much time as possible getting to know my classmates and industry professionals. I would schedule two to three coffee chats with professionals to broaden my industry knowledge and network to land my dream internship position. I also made sure I spent time getting to know my classmates, as my peers and I will be reentering the workforce together. I did make sure to allocate some of my free time to schoolwork; after all, part of the MBA experience is becoming a student again.
When you step on campus during the summer quarter, it may be a bit overwhelming. Take a deep breath, figuring out what you want out of the MBA experience, and start chasing after your goals. After all, you are the driver of your MBA experience and career.
Student Blogger: Allyson Mason ‘22
Undergrad: Boston College ‘15
Pre-MBA: Gursey | Schneider (Forensic Accountant, CPA)
Leadership@Anderson: VP of Events, Anderson Real Estate Association (AREA); VP of Diversity and Inclusion, John Anderson Golf Club (JAGC); Director and Student Ambassador, Admissions Ambassador Corps (AAC); Admits Weekend Planning Committee