I came to the Full-time MBA at Smith School of Business because ...

of the community and culture embedded into the FTMBA program, Smith School of Business and Queen’s University as a whole. Having completed my undergraduate degree at Queen’s, I was already familiar with how tight-knit and supportive the student population is. Through my first few meetings with the FTMBA program team, it was evident that a sense of community is ingrained within the Smith culture. The team-based learning approach is one of the factors that resonated the most with me. This style of education creates a truly collaborative environment where students are constantly learning from one another. Instead of working independently, we grow together by sharing different perspectives and experiences. From the beginning, it was clear that there was a genuine commitment to helping students succeed, whether that meant offering guidance or just a push in the right direction. Knowing that this level of support existed ensured me that I would be able to fully engage in the program and get the most out of my experience.

If I could go back and give myself advice one year ago, it would be to take a breath and trust that I belong here. Even after accepting my offer, I had a strong feeling of imposter syndrome. I was constantly worried that I would be one of the least experienced students in the program, and assumed others would be more confident and outgoing than I. Within days of starting the program, those concerns faded. The program helped me recognize my own strengths and showed me how to bring them into the work we were doing.

• Hometown: Oakville, Ontario
• Country of Origin: Canada
• Prior Industry: Civil Engineering
• Career Focus: Consulting/Capital Planning