Adriana Blachowicz

Quantic School of Business and Technology

“A space biology expert passionate about science, art, and literature.”

City, State, Country: 

Currently: Los Angeles, CA, U.S,

Originally: Łączki Brzeskie, Podkarpacie, Poland

Fun Fact About Yourself: I come from a small village in the Polish countryside and ended up in the largest city in the world. And I love it!

Undergraduate School and Major:

B.Sc. & M.Sc. – Maria Curie Sklodowska University, Lublin, Poland

Ph.D. – University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, U.S.

Current Employer and Job Title: Postdoctoral Researcher, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Why did you choose an online format like Quantic? After researching and evaluating a number of MBA programs (online and off-line), I came to the conclusion that Quantic best suits my career development plans. I particularly appreciate its endemic flexibility, the heterogeneity of the cohort, and both the teaching content and methodology.

Aside from your classmates, what was the key part of Quantic’s MBA programming that led you to choose this business school, and why was it so important to you? I would summarize it in three macro areas: (i) the innovative approach; (ii) the intimate connection to the corporate world (and the great business model of lowering the financial burden by incentivising the companies to invest in future bright managers); (iii) the long-term vision of revolutionizing top level education and making it accessible to many based on merits.

Give us an example of a lesson you gained during your Quantic MBA and how did you apply it at work? Based on the preliminary courses that I took, I’ve started applying concepts that I acquired in the fields of cultural intelligence. And I’ve started venturing into investment strategies.

Quantic is highly competitive and only about 10% of students who apply to the MBA program are admitted. What advice would you give to someone who intends to apply to Quantic to increase their odds of being accepted? It is difficult to advise other people as needs and expectations are very personal. A broad suggestion that strongly applies to myself is to have a clear short-, medium-, and long-term career (and life) plan and work it backwards from the end point. The actions that we take today should strategically blend into the big picture. Life is not always linear. Therefore, adjustments will likely be needed, but in a way, this keeps the planning exciting and dynamic.

What achievement are you most proud of as an MBA student? From where I stand, I feel privileged and lucky to be admitted to the program and with a financial scholarship, which I am grateful to Quantic for.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? It was sending experiments to the International Space Station and having astronauts perform them, with the goal being to understand how microbes adapt to the space environment. Although I expect that my future professional steps will naturally lead me to more managerial positions, less in direct contact with science, fungal biology holds a special place in my heart.

What is your ultimate long-term professional goal and how has your MBA studies helped you make progress in this area? My long-term plan is to lead teams and projects in the field of translational science. I am very keen to acquire the important skills to best further and support my career towards this long-term goal.  I am excited to begin the MBA program at Quantic since I believe it will be a contributing factor to my professional success.

DON’T MISS: THE DISRUPTERS: MEET THE QUANTIC CLASS OF 2022