I am pursuing an MBA to expand my general management skills, broaden my leadership capabilities, and enhance my network. In order to return to [my company] as a senior leader within asset management, it is crucial that I round out my educational preparation by taking courses such as Analytics and Advanced Competitive Strategy. These courses will allow me to make data-driven decisions and expand [my company’s] role within the asset management marketplace.

Further, I’ve been interested in leadership for as long as I can remember, and while I’ve held leadership positions at school, at work, and in the community – I want to invest in a formal leadership education to become a better leader at [my company]. I would be thrilled to engage with Tuck’s leadership development program by participating in leadership courses, hands-on experiences, and reflection exercises – and by supporting others in their leadership journey as a Leadership Fellow.

I am also eager to partner with professors and students from all over the world to expand my network and global perspective. It is important to me to gain exposure to new industries, cultures, and ways of thinking so that I can bring unique ideas to my teams at work. Tuck’s collaborative and intimate environment, combined with experiential programs such as the First Year Project and TuckGO, will provide valuable exposure to the experiences of other professionals. Similarly, Tuck’s unique devotion of resources to a single MBA program and the noteworthy support and involvement of alumni will allow me to learn from faculty and alumni in ways that I simply could not at other schools.

Overall – Tuck is exactly where I want to be. I would be excited and honored to learn, cultivate relationships, and contribute my own knowledge and experiences to the prestigious Tuck MBA program.

Love—specifically my love for God, my family, my country and my fellow man—is what defines me. From childhood, I’ve been taught that service demonstrates love. During high school, I assisted an elderly widow with odd jobs, like mowing her lawn. Since she knew I wouldn’t accept payment, she hid money in my personal effects which I always returned. We became very close and kept in contact for years. Serving her inspired me to serve others. When a close friend and my brother confided that they struggled with depression, I co-founded a chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. I used this platform to organize support groups and fight the stigma around mental illness.

At age 19, I applied to serve a full-time mission for my church. I initially rated my level of interest in learning a foreign language as “zero”, but, after considering my mom’s counterpoint regarding missed opportunities, I changed my selection to the highest level of interest. For two years, I served the Mandarin-speaking population in (city), Texas, immersing myself in the Chinese language and culture. At college, I double-majored in Chinese and Accounting and added a 1-year fully-immersive program in China. Since 2014, I have conducted work meetings in Chinese, translated for the local Chinese congregation, and built relationships with many Chinese coworkers.

Through these experiences, I’ve grown to see cultural differences as strengths. I’ve also learned that I am capable of accomplishing hard things and that seizing opportunities results in an increased capacity to serve. Most importantly, I’ve realized that I have a strong desire and ability to connect with people. At Tuck, I look forward to connecting with classmates who share my values through leadership in clubs like Tuck Community Consulting, the International Club and Tuck Mentors.

I intend to leverage the Tuck MBA to transition into a generalist role at a top tier consulting firm. My MBA experience will resolve experience gaps in marketing, big data, and strategy, concurrently sharpening my operational and financial acumen and adding to my leadership toolbox. Tuck is the ideal program for me given its alignment with my personal values and professional interests.

The Princeton Review ranks Tuck as the most family-friendly top 10 MBA program. Per (student), a father and second-year Tuckie, this ranking is well-warranted as partners and kids are welcomed warmly to most events and receive tremendous amounts of support through tight-knit clubs like Tuck Partners and Tiny Tuckies. After driving from Florida to visit campus, I was struck with the natural beauty of Hanover. Given my outdoorsy wife and kids, I was thrilled to find hiking trails, ski areas, golf courses, shooting ranges, camp sites and other outdoor opportunities so close by. Moreover, (student)—a Tuckie introduced to me by a friend from EY—spoke passionately about all of the clubs available. As a long time sports aficionado, she made me especially excited to jump in and try Tripod Hockey, but I’m also interested in rowing and rugby!

During the Q&A session, (adcomm) mentioned that Tuck sends one of the highest percentages of graduates into MBB, which is likely due to Tuck’s well-regarded generalist curriculum, tight-knit alumni network, and pervasive use of the case method. While the class I attended was impressive and the family resources appealing, Tuck’s students were the most memorable part of my visit—by far the most welcoming and friendly of any MBA program I toured. I am positive my little family will feel right at home at Tuck.

As I reflect on who I am, I know that my curiosity, emotional intelligence, and desire to give back stem from my unconventional upbringing. I have two schizophrenic parents, and after my mother passed away when I was eight, I was raised by my schizophrenic father. From a young age, I learned how to respond to his paranoia, auditory hallucinations, and volatile moods. I did this for years and as a result learned to identify subtle queues in body language, tone, and word choice. I would not change a thing about the way I grew up, and my emotional intelligence has served me well as I create a candid, collaborative dynamic for my team at work.

As I grew up without siblings, and worked to understand and dissect my father’s behavior, I developed a very inquisitive personality. Among my friends and colleagues, I am known for asking “why?” My pointed questions often elevate discussions and reveal hidden problems or possibilities. I thoroughly enjoy contributing in this way, and I would love to bring this skill to classes and clubs at Tuck.

I am where I am today because of the kindness and generosity I’ve experienced in life, so it is very important to me to give back. I support my community by helping low-income residents with their tax returns and raising money to buy holiday gifts for children in need. Since college, I have also given back by mentoring other women. My childhood independence resulted in a strong sense of self confidence, and I enjoy harnessing this to help women find their confidence as well. I would be honored to collaborate with other accomplished women at Tuck and to be a leader within Tuck’s Women in Business Club.

As a Senior Research Associate at GGG, I worked with people across research and marketing to create a network for Analysts to promote each other’s research on social media. To help scale the initiative, I trained Research Associates on how to draft blogs and tweets for their Analysts, who were often too busy to write blogs themselves. This initiative increased client engagement with reports and gave Research Associates a career development opportunity by getting writing experience. By leading it I gained visibility and a positive reputation across the company- all the way up to senior research leadership. Through training my peers, I discovered two Senior Research Associates who were passionate about the initiative and onboarded them as co-leaders.

One, TTT, was new to his position and didn’t have any projects beyond his job description. I felt that TTT would benefit from taking over leadership of the social media project and stretching his role . So, I offered to have him become the face of the project to gain more experience and recognition, and I moved into the background. As soon as TTT became a part of the team, he led meetings and presentations and sent all communication. At first, he wasn’t very comfortable with public speaking, so I would work with him the week before, reviewing slides, giving feedback on the presentation, and asking mock questions I thought might come up. Additionally, while he was learning the details of the platform’s process, I made sure everything ran smoothly behind the scenes.

We soon realized that we each brought different strengths. TTT was great at energizing and rallying our peer Research Associates to participate, while I was skilled at working with the metrics and promoting the initiative to gain buy-in from research leadership and Analysts. He used his strength to help the project scale even further by assigning Research Associates to be leads on their team, coordinate which reports would be promoted and who would write the blogs, and roll them up to us to distribute across the network. Without TTT’s fresh perspective and new ideas on how to scale, the network would’ve maxed out at a smaller size. As I expected, people across the organization took notice-when TTT was promoted, he said the hiring manager specifically called out his leadership on this project as a standout about his application.

Although the plan had been to transition all of my tasks leading the social media project to TTT, we realized the initiative would be the most successful if we partnered, and I continued to work on aspects I knew well behind the scenes so TTT could devote time fully to his own strengths. I’ve learned that by helping others you can achieve the best outcomes. You don’t succeed in isolation, and are more effective if you have a team with diverse skills you can draw on. I’ll bring this perspective to Tuck, where I’ll generously invest my time in supporting my peers without expecting “credit” or my name attached to it.