Meet the MBA Class of 2022: Y.C. Wong, University of Michigan (Ross)

Y.C. Wong

University of Michigan,  Ross School of Business

“Aspiring human capital-centric, analytics-savvy consultant, operating in a variety of cultures while leading others.”

Hometown: Singapore

Fun Fact About Yourself: After listening to John Coyle, an Olympic silver medalist, speak about incorporating fear and suffering to create time-stopping vacations, I traveled solo to Southeast Asia and chose to hike through northern Thailand to create conditions for a memorable holiday. I stayed with different tribes each night, helped prepare meals, and interacted with the local villagers.

Undergraduate School and Major: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign – Gies College of Business, Bachelor of Science in Accountancy and Master of Accounting Science

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Deloitte Consulting LLP, Senior Consultant

Aside from your classmates, what was the key part of the school’s MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? Not many MBA programs have investment funds that offer students hands-on investing training. Ross has five! – exemplifying its strong commitment to action-based learning. Getting involved in a student-run fund is one of many Ross-specific stretch experiences I want to pursue to elevate my analytical skill set and push myself outside my comfort zone. I look forward to learning leading practices in investing, managing, and growing real investment portfolios from esteemed faculty and industry mentors.

What club or activity excites you most at this school? Ross has many leading centers and institutes that dive deep into topics ranging from developing leaders to creating positive organizations. Digital Business is a new center/institute that Ross is standing up this year to connect students, faculty, and industry to digital so that we are equipped to guide positive (digital) change at and beyond Ross. I am excited not only to immerse myself in its programming, but also to help shape this new initiative, along with other thought leaders within the community.

What makes you most excited about getting your MBA at Ross? What makes you most nervous about starting business school? I am super excited to surround myself with high-performing individuals from a myriad of backgrounds and perspectives in Ross’ high impact + low ego culture, which is hands down a clear differentiator. Throughout the admissions process, I received immense support from Ross students and alumni. Everyone’s investment in my Ross journey and willingness to go above-and-beyond spoke volumes about Ross’ incredibly genuine, collaborative, and supportive culture. I firmly believe that Ross offers its students a robust platform to connect across cultural communities, discover common ground, bring our authentic selves, and support each other.

While I am most nervous about the pandemic’s impact on my business school experience, I think that the Class of 2022 has a unique opportunity to reimagine, co-create, and elevate the future Ross MBA experience (i.e., a new normal) for ourselves and future Rossers.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: I designed and delivered data-driven and technology-enabled communication and training solutions during a multimillion-dollar system implementation, equipping 80 offices and 4,500 government workers with the tools and processes to provide health and human services to low-income families and residents across the state.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? My experiences in the army, in college, and at Deloitte have given me a strong foundation of behavioral and technical skills such as teamwork and SQL. An MBA will elevate my role at Deloitte and accelerate my growth as a global leader. I want to deepen my analytical acumen to help clients make data-driven talent decisions. I seek to advance my leadership skills by practicing self-reflection and increasing my emotional intelligence. I am also keen to diversify my network beyond Deloitte and the U.S.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? Booth, Fuqua, Kellogg, Tepper

What was the most challenging question you were asked during the admissions process? Questions around how coworkers or friends describe me were more challenging for me because it required walking in others’ shoes while navigating the delicate art of self-promotion.

What have you been doing to prepare yourself for business school? I have been listening to podcasts! Ross’ very own “Business Beyond Usual” podcast gets me super excited about the program’s breadth and depth. The “Learn Educate Discover” podcast, on the other hand, has opened my eyes to careers I never knew existed and continues to help me narrow my focus for the upcoming recruiting cycle.

What was your defining moment and how did it prepare you for business school? A defining moment was surviving jungle training in Brunei to become an officer in the Singapore army. The course included trekking through the jungle in full combat load and surviving on two days’ worth of food for ten days. I lost ten pounds, suffered injuries, and watched a peer lose consciousness due to multiple hornet stings.

Despite the challenges, I became aware of a foundational element of my identity – proactivity – that has consistently guided my life choices. Rather than react based on the external environment, I proactively delivered solutions. When my comrades felt frustrated and lost motivation, I led by example by taking point and actively checking our bearings as we navigated through the dense jungle. When it got too dark to travel, I leveraged the downtime to make survival tools. I hope to leverage and strengthen this aspect of my identity in business school by being proactive and intentional about shaping my unique MBA journey at Ross and focusing my energy on experiences that are aligned with my interests.

What is your favorite company and what could business students learn from them? I love Deloitte’s expectation and emphasis on driving positive impact across three dimensions: client, firm, and people. Similarly, as future leaders, we should be committed to serving our customers, our organizations, and the people in our communities.

DON’T MISS: MEET THE MICHIGAN ROSS MBA CLASS OF 2022