Meet Georgetown McDonough’s MBA Class of 2019

Irene Ou 

Georgetown University, McDonough School of Business

Describe yourself in 15 words or less: Eat, do yoga, eat more, and travel the world!

Hometown:  Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Fun Fact About Yourself: I am a classical pianist and have performed internationally as a soloist.

Undergraduate School and Major:  Roosevelt University, B.S. in Mathematics with minors in Computer Science and Business

Employers and Job Titles Since Graduation: 

Sunshine Network NFP, Co-Founder & Wellness Director

Health Care Health Service Corp. (Blue Cross Blue Shield), Actuarial Assistant

Allianz SE, Actuarial intern

Bixon Corp., Business Analyst

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: I am fortunate enough to start a not-for-profit organization with a few other partners to promote wellness education to survivors of domestic violence in 2015. The process for starting up a business in such a field was challenging and difficult as there are many legal issues to conquer on top of psychological management, as well as public relationship management. I am proud that such an organization was established and is active to further help survivors in healing their needs psychologically, emotionally, and physically.

Looking back on your experience, what one piece of advice would you give to future business school applicants?  While taking GMAT/GRE and crafting one’s own story are crucial parts to the application, I would strongly encourage future applicants to take the time to speak with current MBA students to gain insight on a program’s true dynamics. This is also a great opportunity to evaluate if a program is a good fit – I was able to quickly identify programs I felt fit and student and faculty atmospheres I felt connected to. The application process is not only for potential MBA programs to evaluate us, but also a time for us to evaluate them. Another piece of advice I would give to future applicants would be spending quality time with recommenders. It is vital to have the recommenders on board and know each piece in one’s application. They are the ones that can speak for items, such as challenges one has overcome or creative thinking experience, that aren’t already in the application.

What was the key factor that led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA and why was it so important to you? Georgetown McDonough stands apart from other MBA programs for several reasons but three resonate with me the most: The tight knit culture, the challenge, and global focus. First, I want to be a part of a program with a relatively small, but diverse, student body and faculty so that I can be guaranteed to build closer relationships with my fellow MBAs and challenged in the intimacy of smaller class size. The challenge McDonough prepares for the students begins a month before the first semester, the opening term. The opening term offers rigorous courses in accounting and global business, which better prepare students to face the challenges ahead. Third, McDonough has a global focus that is structured into the curriculum – students travel abroad to consult on real business challenges and make recommendations to senior management. As a career changer, this is a tremendous opportunity for me to get experience in the industry I am interested in and an item I will be able to showcase on my resume.

What would success look like to you after your first year of business school? From a narrower definition of success, I would say having clear vision of my career path with the confidence that an outstanding career is likely, and having incredible friends. To me, one of many parameters to define success is by the people I am surrounded by, and by being surrounded by motivators and reinforcers, I will know this is the sign leading me towards the right direction.

However, from a more personal ideal of success, having my own moments and experience in making good impacts on my peers or society as a whole defines a deeper and more meaningful definition to me as success after my first year because what I expect from business school is personal transformation.