Meet Washington Olin’s MBA Class Of 2021

Tarhe Osiebe

Washington University, Olin Business School

“An avid traveler with a substantial appetite for learning, problem-solving and community involvement.”

Hometown: Lagos, Nigeria (my roots are from Delta State, Nigeria).

Fun Fact About Yourself: I taught myself how to swim at age nineteen. This skill proved very useful when I went snorkeling at Flamenco Beach on the Caribbean island of Culebra, Puerto Rico.

Undergraduate School and Major: University of Kentucky, Electrical Engineering

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Southern Company–Alabama Power, Protection and Controls Test Engineer

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: Making the transition from engineering to business school has been my biggest accomplishment – even though I’ve been successful at working with cross-functional teams to solve customer issues, driving long-term strategic solution implementations, and successfully transitioning from the manufacturing industry to energy utility,

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? Globetrotters. Although everyone has a different background and hails from all walks of life, we all share a similar enthusiasm for travel. Olin’s new Global Immersion program has been the perfect channel to showcase our passion for travel and step outside each other’s comfort zones to experience different cultural norms.

Aside from your classmates, 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 Olin Business School values (Integrity, Collaboration, Diversity, Excellence, and Leadership) resonated with me. Leadership and Collaboration stood out the most because I experienced it first-hand during my visits to campus. Students and faculty and staff members were actively engaged, in their own way, throughout the admissions process. Moreover, there was an element of community belonging despite being a prospective student. For instance, an unfortunate situation occurred during one of my campus visits. This situation was taken very seriously by the Olin community and was addressed within a couple of days of its occurrence. This showed me the Olin community truly stands by their values.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school?

  1. Olin Africa Business Club
  2. Olin Power and Energy Association
  3. Olin Strategy and Consulting Association
  4. Center for Experimental Learning (CEL)
  5. Graduate Student Business Association (GSBA)

What was the most challenging question you were asked during the admissions process? “Tell us about your top five most influential social media posts.” This question, surely, was unexpected and it took a little longer to complete than I had anticipated.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? My engineering career was truly rewarding. I developed life-long problem-solving skills. However, I realized to achieve the magnitude of community impact I desire, I had to switch career paths. And an MBA was the best path for me because of the career flexibility and business acumen development it provides.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? Duke (Fuqua), Cornell (SC Johnson), University of Michigan (Ross), Carnegie Mellon (Tepper)

How did you determine your fit at various schools? I utilized numerous campus scheduled visits, information webinars, Poets & Quants, and network of current MBA students to evaluate my cultural fit within different schools. This helped me to narrow down to five schools, to which I applied. Ultimately, I prioritized the job placement, academic curriculum, geographic location and level of opportunities to make an impact. I made a table list with these different parameters and personal priorities. Olin Business School stood out, especially with the Global Immersion core curriculum.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? I was involved in an auto accident during the summer of 2015 with both of my parents. My mother suffered the worst of this accident as she was badly lacerated on her forehead. This traumatizing experience made me re-evaluate how I prioritized family and what I wanted in life, since life could be quite short. I believe the following months after this accident provided me with more clarity and allowed me to put more effort into nurturing my relationship with my parents, despite being over six thousand miles apart. I made sure I visited my parents in Lagos, this past May, prior to starting my MBA.

Where do you see yourself in ten years? Between entrepreneurship and corporate America, I see myself fully immersed in a leading operations management role making values-based and data-driven business decisions that positively impact my community.

Questions about this article? Email us or leave a comment below.