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SEPTEMBER 2002 MBA JOURNAL: INTRODUCTION Tonya Harris: Who I Am, and Why B-School Is for Me "I am leaving the shackles of 'what I should do' behind, and starting over to pursue 'what I want to do.' I know that attending business school is the right decision for me, at this time, and here is why..." My name is Tonya. I am a 29-year-old getting ready to embark on what I perceive to be one of the greatest adventures of my life. I am leaving behind a stable career, a home that I own, and all that I know and have trained for to pursue my calling, a career in the entertainment and media field. Sure, I am scared. I am leaving my comfort zone for the first time ever. But, at the same time, I am ecstatic. I am leaving the shackles of "what I should do" behind, and starting over to pursue "what I want to do." I know that attending business school is the right decision for me, at this time, and here is why. My institutional training and professional experience is in technology. I have two engineering degrees and by the time I start business school in the Fall of 2002, I will have five years of full-time work experience in the technology field. As an engineer, I focused on building technical and quantitative skills. But, this didn't feed my soul. Sure, being a strong technical expert was great when I was at work, but I had no interest in developing that aspect of my life outside of the confines of my cubicle. Instead, I wanted to move beyond sitting behind a desk and crunching numbers with limited human contact into a position which was more people-oriented and more fun. That desire led me to my position as a technical trainer. The job allowed me to take my expertise, put a creative spin on it, and spit it back out to our customers in an entertaining and understandable manner. It also moved me away from pure technical work into more of a sales and marketing position, while still utilizing my engineering background. And believe me, it was a great challenge and joy to take topics as dry as differential equations and optimization algorithms and turn that information into something that made my customers laugh with enjoyment. But, this job still didn't touch me in the way I desired. I didn't enjoy the subject matter, which included discussions about recliner mechanisms, RV toilets, or tractor parts - to name some of the more interesting topics. I wanted the ability to put the type of spin and energy I used on topics such as - movies, television, art, and literature -- "hobbies," that actually dominated my conversations, my free time, and my heart. This thought process led me to my desired goal: To obtain an MBA with a focus in finance and a concentration in entertainment and media. But, why an MBA? Well, as an engineer, I figured it would be pretty difficult to walk up to a movie studio executive and ask for a job. So, logically, it seemed that the MBA would be the best way to make the transition into a new field. So, what is my vision for the future? I will skip the application essay answer, and give you my dream. After the degree, the leg work, the kissing up, and paying my dues, ultimately, I would love to run my own division in a media company, responsible for all aspects of new marketing techniques, financing, and possibly branching into international media. That's it. Something completely different from what I do now. And, something that will make me want to get out of the bed in the morning. Something I would do for free. So, that is my story. I applied to B-school because I want a career change. I want to pursue a career about which I am passionate instead of remaining in a career that does not challenge or satisfy me. The best way to achieve this, in my view, is by utilizing my current skills and combining them with the business skills I will gain from a challenging business school program. And that is exactly what I plan to do. I am very much looking forward to the journey, and to sharing it with all of you.  Get BusinessWeek directly on your desktop with our RSS feeds.  Add BusinessWeek news to your Web site with our headline feed. Click to buy an e-print or reprint of a BusinessWeek or BusinessWeek Online story or video. To subscribe online to BusinessWeek magazine, please click here. Learn more, go to the BusinessWeekOnline home page  | | SEPTEMBER Learn about your online education options |
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