亚洲体育博彩平台的MBA课程 鼓励学生之间的网络关系, but eight recent graduates 太k “community” to the next level, creating a close-knit group of friends and colleagues that went well beyond the classroom. 该集团, 最终绰号为“MB8”,” assembled naturally as members got to know — and like — each other in Concordia classes.
“我不认为我能预见到这一点,爱德华·詹克说, a manager at a local 工程师ing company who enrolled in 亚洲体育博彩平台的MBA课程 at the same time as his now-wife, 塔拉. “By the second or third class we started to amass 这 synthetic cohort. 随着课程的进行, one of us would get into another group and introduce them to people we thought were cool, 在你意识到之前, MB8诞生了. After that, we were making sure to ask each other, ‘What class are you going to take next?’”
塔拉·杨克(塔拉 Janke)曾梦想有一天能拿到MBA学位, 当她的事业陷入低谷时, 艾德建议他们一起申请, though he already had two bachelor’s degrees and a master’s in 工程师ing.
“I was nervous because it had been about ten years since I was in school,” 塔拉 admits. “I went in dragging my feet a little bit, to be completely honest. 我想，‘我能做到吗? 我们会没有生命吗? 这会影响我现在的工作吗?“我不知道会发生什么.”
的n Ed and 塔拉 started meeting fellow students like 以斯帖崔, 迈克尔•西蒙斯, 格雷格LeFever, 克里斯·索莫斯, 威廉和杰米·布达他们似乎立刻就和他打成一片.
的 MB8 coalescence 'happened organically, we learned immensely from each other.'
“的 relationships enhanced all our conversations and the schoolwork,威廉说。 Buda. “We complemented each other when we worked on projects in different ways. It brought us closer and was interesting to bounce ideas off each other, 克服挫折. I was super-surprised that it happened that way, but I’m glad that it did.”
克里斯·索莫斯, Excel包装总裁, a family-owned business that makes flexible packages for pet and human food, entered Concordia’s program to gain business experience. 的 MB8 coalescence “happened organically, we learned immensely from each other,” he says. “的re was a lot of synergy and learning in addition to the classroom. 这真的很特别. When you get a group like that, you don’t get stuck in your own lane. 你被迫以不同的方式思考. 人们会说，‘你想过这个吗?’ I’d say, ‘I wouldn’t have thought of that in a million years, but I love it.’”
格雷格LeFever, 51, was the senior member of the unofficial cohort and gained others’ respect with his extensive entrepreneurial experience and real-world wisdom. LeFever has enjoyed careers at places as varied as Land Rover/Jaguar North America, start-up businesses in the fitness and corporate wellness spaces. He wanted an MBA degree to bring his education up to his level of experience.
I did expect it to be practical and real-business-related, which is why I chose Concordia. I liked that professors showed up from work in the business world to teach classes.
“MB8”在“老鹰登陆”喝咖啡
“I did expect it to be practical and real-business-related, which is why I chose Concordia,” he says. “I liked that professors showed up from work in the business world to teach classes. 但我不是在找新朋友. 我有事情要做. 我的东西是实际应用知识. Relationships were not my focus and not my intention. I just wanted to get in there and figure my own stuff out.”
第一天，他和艾德和塔拉搭档, soon met the other five who would make up the MB8.
“It turned out to be a great group of people, a highly intelligent group,” LeFever says. “Amongst us we had the skill sets to collectively start a business — administrative, 工程师, 承包, 处理, 沟通, 等. Everybody brought something different and there was constructive dialogue and respect. 的 personalities were different enough that it just worked. 这是其中一个“It因子”. 所有的东西都对齐了.”
Many in the group shared a faith and Christian perspective as well.
“I am a Christian, that’s another reason I wanted to go to Concordia,” says 迈克尔•西蒙斯. “我从来没有上过基督教学校. 之前, I always had my guard up about what was right and not right about what my professor just told me. So I really liked being around like-minded professors and students. 我们可以讨论一下.”
该集团 began meeting at homes for projects and study — and at one point, LeFever convinced 塔拉 to stay in the program when life and work responsibilities threatened to derail her.
“I was so overwhelmed because work was challenging, 我很累，在计划我们的婚礼,塔拉说。. “You naturally hit a point where it’s really hard and you don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, 所以我有了一个激动的时刻. I was about to walk out during a classroom break and never come back. Edward grabbed Greg — I call Greg the godfather of MB8, 一个了不起的人说, “我知道她现在会听你说的.’ Greg gave me a pep talk and that saved my experience.”
职业重入正轨前
Jaime布达, 威廉的妻子, says they both came to Concordia determined to reset their careers and find jobs they liked. Jaime’s exhaustive-spreadsheet approach to finding an MBA program kept bringing them back to Concordia, 哪个检查了他们所有的盒子.
这群朋友真的起了作用. Everyone knows your name so you’re highly motivated to do the work.
“我们有一次奇妙的经历，”杰米说. “这群朋友真的很重要. Everyone knows your name so you’re highly motivated to do the work so you don’t look stupid and let your group down. 这有利于谈话, the ability to get to know your classmates instead of sitting next to them and not speaking.”
“Jaime and I are big Concordia advocates,” William says. “直到今天，我们都对它赞不绝口.”
另一个MB8成员, 以斯帖崔, 报名参加这个项目是专门为了网络, 发现了比她想要的更多的东西.
“我们都是雄心勃勃的人，”崔说. “It was a good group to uplift and motivate each other.”
这也意味着互相挑战.
“You’d rather get feedback in the class than at work,” Esther says.
的ir shared academic experience culminated in the last core class which turned out to be, 偶然发现的, 只有八个人.
“我们当时就想，‘哇，这太酷了，’”塔拉回忆道. “We had fun because we had a rapport already and were able to challenge each other without getting offended because we knew each other so well.”
Jaime says the friendships advanced their education.
“的re’s something about when you’re friends with someone, you’re not afraid to ask them questions and challenge them, 一切都是为了学习的兴趣,她说。. “Especially in that last core class with just the eight of us, 我们开始讨论，格雷格会说, 我们这样做, 这, 这.’威廉会说:‘为什么? How does that make sense if you’re trying to create 这 kind of culture?’ And the discussions would go deeper and we’d learn more. It was unique and fabulous the way the group developed.”
Each member participated in the December 2018 graduation ceremonies. At some point the term “MB8” was used as a joke in a group email — and the name stuck.
“We were like, ‘Oh, my gosh, that’s awesome,’塔拉说。.
的 piece that struck me as amazing about Concordia was how they were able to foster 这 kind of group relationship. 的 people we met were the ultimate awesomeness of 这 situation.
Ed reflects that “the piece that struck me as amazing about Concordia was how they were able to foster 这 kind of group relationship. 的 people we met were the ultimate awesomeness of 这 situation. 这是惊人的. 该集团 shared knowledge from different classes some were taking. I never 太k new venture financing, but I know concepts from it because a few of our members did. 我们汇集了[我们所学到的]元素.”
一位MB8成员甚至雇佣了另一位成员. 迈克尔•西蒙斯 was the director of finance at a pizza chain who chose to attend Concordia for the networking possibilities. What he didn’t expect was that the networking would be quite so immediate. 毕业后他一直在找工作, Chris’s flexible packaging company needed a vice president of finance.
“的 very first person that jumped into my head was Michael,” Chris says. “Everybody at the company loved him and now he’s been here since January, doing a great job. We work side by side and I believe he’s going to help me take the company to the next level.”
Michael says he entered the MBA program expecting to build some relationships, but “didn’t think it would be at the depth that it was, to where 塔拉 was giving me advice on ways to save money and still make my wedding look really nice, 和艾德谈论单板滑雪,迈克尔说. “We meshed really well and could go to each other with questions. 我们让它变得有趣. 这是最重要的部分. You’re reading books, taking tests, doing projects. When you’re doing it among people you like being around, it makes it fun.”
毕业典礼上的“MB8”
A number of MB8s have enjoyed promotions or better jobs since enrolling and graduating. William was promoted and credits the MBA for speeding up his advancement. 塔拉说，MBA改善了她的工作生活和收入.
“I’m a very good example of how much an MBA can benefit your career,她说。. “的 second I graduated and updated my Linked In, I had people contact me. 我几乎立刻就得到了一份工作. 的y were very excited about my MBA, I made a pretty significant salary jump. I left the program super-excited because it opened doors.”
Jaime was promoted and gained significantly greater confidence in her own abilities at work as the business development manager for a consulting firm that helps cities and counties pursue opportunities for federal partnerships.
“我不太质疑自己，”杰米说. “我觉得我有一个坚实的基础.”
甚至在毕业之前, Esther updated her Linked In information and a potential employer ran a keyword search that turned up her name.
“我命中了100%的分数，”埃斯特说. “的 hiring manager liked the fact that I was in the program. 这也是他们雇用我的原因之一.”
I want our story to encourage prospective students to talk to the person next to them. 事情就是这样开始的. Talk to your neighbor and make that extra effort to have those connections.
Esther is now the corporate compliance manager for a high-performance plastics company that supplies to medical device and aerospace companies.
在这两年里，生活发生了很多变化. “教父”格雷格离开了他原来的公司, 继续经营自己的健康公司, 成立营利性有限责任公司, then flipped it to a nonprofit — all while in CUI’s program. 艾德和塔拉订婚并结婚了. Esther, Michael and Chris also were engaged (not to each other) during or soon after the program.
今天, 这种关系通过电话继续着, 集团短信, 烧烤, coffee dates and parties to celebrate weddings and birthdays.
“I can reach out and talk to my group if I’m ever having an issue with something, 以及康考迪亚大学的教职员工, 太,威廉说。, who is a marketing manager for an office seating manufacturer.
塔拉 calls herself “the biggest advocate for higher education, Concordia. I can’t say enough great things about the experience. 我得到的好处是无价的.”
超过一个学位, the MB8 members “feel how special 这 experience was for us and how special our group is,塔拉说。. “I hope we set an example for other people to do 这, because it really helps you get through the program. I want our story to encourage prospective students to talk to the person next to them. 事情就是这样开始的. Talk to your neighbor and make that extra effort to have those connections.”