Jenna Wenyon 

Rice University – Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business

“I love reading and read over 50 books last year!”

Hometown: Denton, TX

Fun Fact About Yourself: I had an ostrich, giant tortoise, llama, and a bunch of other pets growing up! It made for an interesting childhood.

Undergraduate School and Major: Texas A&M University, Finance

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Private company (statistical arbitrage hedge fund); Trader

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: Getting my CFA!

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? Interesting! The diversity of backgrounds and experiences means there is always something to learn.

What makes Houston a great place to live and earn your MBA? Houston is an awesome city. There are great neighborhoods to live, play, eat, and explore. From Downtown, Montrose, the Heights – Houston has great restaurants, great industries to work in, and is continuing to grow. Every weekend there is something new going on.

Aside from your classmates and location, 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 responsiveness of the key players in the school. The first point of contact for me was current students. They immediately put me in touch with alumni, admissions, and anyone else they thought would be beneficial to me. I have had sit down conversations with a few of the deans and I am only three days into the program. The school takes pride in taking extremely good care of its people and it shows. I didn’t get this experience at any other school while applying and these connections made it so easy to say yes to Rice.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? I am looking forward to organizational behavior classes and anything to do with the psychology of business. Having a strong finance background, I want to round out my business acumen and leadership skills and I think understanding people and businesses from a deeper level will be key.

What was the most challenging question you were asked during the admissions process? Tell me about yourself. It’s the most asked, and hardest to answer.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? I loved my job, but the company wasn’t looking to grow so I felt it was time to leave. I have always been interested in getting an MBA, but it took me looking at my current job and realizing it was time to pursue other things.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? Booth and McCombs

How did you determine your fit at various schools? I visited each school. I loved certain aspects of each program; the cities were ones I had visited before and even considered moving to before for my career. I loved the cultures of each school, the intellectual push you could feel through the halls, and the friendliness and camaraderie of the students. At the end of the day, I knew I wanted a different feel from my undergrad, one where I was 1 in 40,000 students. And Rice delivered on that time-and-time again through the process.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? This question is a tough one for me. I had always been a good student, but it was the soft skills that I lacked. I think realizing this on my first job changed my career and what I wanted for myself. Being thoughtful of other people and understanding where they were coming from changed my perspective on a lot of things.

Where do you see yourself in ten years? I see myself in an investment banking role doing great things in finance and also have a big impact on my community. I want to take a few courses on social impact and how to merge that with my career going forward.