ONE-YEAR AT GOIZUETA: JENNYFER GOUNÉ – GOIZUETA CONSORTIUM SUMMER EXPERIENCE
As both a One Year MBA student and a member of the Consortium, I enjoyed a unique summer experience outside of the MBA program. This experience enabled me to build a new network and, most importantly, a new family here at the Goizueta Business School. It also provided me with an invaluable head start at professional development and company recruitment. I would highly recommend applying through the Consortium and here is a snapshot of the Consortium summer experience…
In April (yes, that’s April before school began) I had a series of preparatory coach calls and company career track meetings for the Consortium Orientation Program (OP) conference. Before even arriving at OP, I had the opportunity to define my goals with my coach Paula Fontana, learn about different job functions, and participate in mock interviews with Goizueta alumni. The support that the Career Management Center (CMC) provided coupled with the pre-orientation webinars organized by the Consortium was time consuming but also extremely beneficial to my day one readiness at OP.
By the time my classmates and I finally reached Austin, Texas for OP, many of us already had interviews lined up for the career forum. Though we were already ahead of the game, we received additional interview offers and dinner reception invitations on-site at the conference. Outside of recruiting for interviews, we participated in long days filled with speeches, workshops, breakfasts, lunches, dinners, receptions, awards, and more.
The photo below was taken during a workshop of Max Blachman, my fellow Consortium classmate, posing a question.
Source: Consortium Graduate Study in Management flickr
I too posed a question of my own during the PepsiCo corporate presentation (we are an inquisitive bunch!).
Source: Consortium Graduate Study in Management flickr
The breakfasts and coffee breaks provided additional networking opportunities and enabled us to mingle with students from other schools.
Source: Consortium Graduate Study in Management flickr
In the photo above depicts first year students Gary Cage, Jazmyn Singleton, and Max Blachman.
In addition to all of the other activities, my fellow one-year classmates and I had a midterm scheduled the day after we returned! Thus, we had to find time to study during the conference. Thankfully, we managed to squeeze in some study time at 11pm Saturday night while other students went out and explored the city of Austin.
Other highlights of the conference were the Casino Night, Diversity Theatre, and the several dinners where we listened to the CEO of the Consortium speak. You can view the photos from some of these events below.
The conference culminated into the Career Forum on Sunday and Monday and then we returned to Atlanta Monday night. As soon as we returned we were immediately thrown back into the swing of things with our midterm and other team assignments due that week. The hardest part for me was acclimating back into the academic setting while maintaining the relationships I had built at OP. That being said, the bonds I formed with my classmates during the conference really helped me get through the abrupt transition.
By late-July the Consortium students in the two-year program had joined us on campus and the MBA Program Office planned a great mixer at Murphy’s on our behalf!
The best part about being a Consortium student this summer has been the fact that I’ve opened myself up to meeting great people and, in turn, have developed really great relationships with some of the most talented individuals I’ve ever met. Though the preparation leading up to the consortium was tedious and the conference itself extremely exhausting, I would do it all over again any day.
