Meet Emory Goizueta’s MBA Class of 2019

Katie Sweeney

Emory University, Goizueta Business School

Describe yourself in 15 words or less: Socially conscious bookworm with a travel bug.

Hometown: Cincinnati, Ohio

Fun Fact About Yourself: I once did a six-day silent meditation retreat in Bodh Gaya, India, where the Buddha was enlightened. It was an incredible experience, but I haven’t reached enlightenment yet.

Undergraduate School and Major:

  • Ithaca College, Culture and Communication (undergrad)
  • American University of Paris, Global Communication and Civil Society (graduate)

Employers and Job Titles Since Graduation:

  • Media Bridges, AmeriCorps VISTA
  • U.S. Department of State, Intern
  • U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Presidential Management Fellow, Public Health Advisor, and Special Assistant to the Director

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: I had the opportunity to deploy to Sierra Leone as part of the response to the Ebola epidemic. I worked in a rural district in health promotion, or changing people’s behavior to reduce the spread of the disease. I interviewed people in villages affected by the outbreak to understand their fears and beliefs and used the data to develop recommendations to improve the effectiveness of the response. It was a gut-wrenching and humbling experience.

Looking back on your experience, what one piece of advice would you give to future business school applicants? Spend some time doing self-reflection before starting on your essays. I made a master list of experiences to share in my essays and interviews, which will come in handy again during the recruiting process. I used the ‘Why MBA?’ essay questions as a chance to reflect and evaluate why I was taking this step and what I wanted to get out of it.

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? The small class size made Goizueta felt like a family. Visiting on Welcome Weekend, I felt at home. Everyone knew each other and there was a rapport between students and faculty that I didn’t witness anywhere else.

What would success look like to you after your first year of business school? Stronger leadership skills, a fantastic internship and a larger circle of interesting and inspirational new friends and classmates.

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