Hannah Jerdonek

Arizona State University, W. P. Carey School of Business

“25-year-old with the curiosity and passion to drive change for a better world.”

Hometown: Phoenix, Arizona

Fun Fact About Yourself: I learned how to speak fluent Swahili while living abroad for two years in Eastern Africa.

Undergraduate School and Major: Northern Arizona University, B.S. Chemistry

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Health Extension Agent with the Peace Corps in Tanzania. I worked with Tanzanian government leaders to promote fair resource allocation, build a large-scale water infrastructure system serving an entire village, and teach sustainable small business practices.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: Helping my Tanzanian counterpart build up his project management capabilities and leadership skills to realize his full potential. He is now serving as an elected government official. In return, he has taught me so many lessons in leading diverse teams, cross-cultural communication, and the truest meaning of friendship.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? Friendly, open, personable, sincere. My W. P. Carey classmates are eager to watch each other succeed and grow, which makes for a warm and open learning environment. I was pleasantly surprised to see how much each student values their peers’ successes.

Aside from your classmates, what was the key part of the MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? I knew that I wanted a program where I could feel a sense of community. After living in Tanzania for over two years where the community is highly valued, it didn’t seem right to come home and start a business program that may be cut-throat or individualistic. The W. P. Carey School gives a completely unique sense of community where every single day there is no doubt in your mind that you are a vital piece of this program. The small cohort was attractive to me because I wanted to know everyone on a personal level. I am able to make meaningful relationships with each of my professors and the staff. I also can drive change in a more meaningful way than I feel would be possible in a much larger program.

Arizona State is renowned for its innovation. How have you seen innovation in the philosophy, curriculum, or resources at W. P. Carey? Arizona State’s innovative personality is definitely seen in the W. P. Carey School. Feedback is constantly welcomed to make changes that fit the student’s evolving needs better. There is a lot of freedom to share new ideas and adopt different strategies for getting things done. In addition, many professors will give projects and assignments designed to let you exercise your creative mind by allowing you to come up with your own unique way of solving a business problem within your team, rather than following a set of steps. The program welcomes creativity and free-thinking.

What was the most challenging question you were asked during the admissions process? The most challenging question of the interview process was “Why now” for my MBA. As a 24-year-old applicant with two-and-a-half years of non-traditional business experience, I had to articulate to the admissions committee that I was mature enough to have a clear picture of what I wanted to gain through the MBA and how I could contribute to the program.

How did you determine which business schools best fit you? Since I was living abroad when I was applying to business school, I didn’t have the ability to visit campuses in person, so I did all my research over the phone and online. I connected with current students to ask about their experiences in the full-time program and some of the insights they were gaining. I wanted to be in a program with a diverse set of students from various countries and backgrounds. I asked a lot of questions about what made the school unique, what their most valuable takeaways from the program were. I also listened to several business school podcasts while traveling on long bus rides and did thorough research into each school’s curriculum, employment reports, student ambassador profiles, and where the school excelled.