Meet Indiana Kelley’s MBA Class Of 2023

P&Q: What is your most popular course among MBAs? What makes it so unique and so attractive to MBAs?

KC: “One of our most popular courses is Pricing, taught by Marketing Professor Rockney Walters. As Class of 2021 graduate Jake Frego noted in a recent P&Q feature, Rockney “is a special combination of someone who cares deeply about his students, yet provides the deep expertise to prepare them for success.” In his course, students learn about pricing models that they can readily apply on the job. Rockney’s teaching style is fun, participatory, and engages everyone in the classroom. He is consistently one of our students’ favorite professors.”

P&Q: The Kelley School boasts one of the world’s top undergraduate business and online MBA programs. How does the MBA program draw from these resources to enrich the learning experience of its MBA students?

KC: “We have a very large, talented, and versatile faculty to draw from. Most faculty teach in multiple programs, and consequently the best approaches and ideas are often shared across different degree programs.”

10 REASONS TO CONSIDER INDIANA KELLEY

1) Academies: “I am most interested in the Consumer Marketing Academy. As a leader in a food manufacturing company, I am curious to learn more about what informs customers’ decisions to consume goods and services. I am also eager to work with global companies to tackle real world challenges.”
Akua Obenewaa Donkor (’23)

“I am most interested in the Consulting Academy, primarily because it will allow me to sharpen my analytical skills and approach complex problems with an entrepreneurial mindset. As someone who began his career in sales, it is very important to know how to provide a tailored client experience while considering all wants and needs of the client (as well as possible risks). In addition, every organization needs individuals with a vision to overcome adversities and to navigate the puzzles of today’s economies. I am confident the Consulting Academy will provide a space for me to learn the necessary skills to be an effective consultant in today’s tumultuous world.”
Emmanuel Omoegbele (’23)

2) Integrated Core: “Although I’m not sure many prospective students would agree with me, I am most excited about Kelley’s Integrated Core. Coming from a non-business background, the Integrated Core will provide a solid business foundation and help refine my career interests. Additionally, it will be a unique opportunity to engage with and learn from a diverse cohort and work closely on a team of three or four or my peers. I can only imagine how much I am going to learn over these first 15 weeks.”
Josh Kuiper (’23)

3) Me, Inc.: “When considering business schools, career services and opportunities for leadership development were most important to me. The more I learned about Kelley’s Me, Inc. program, the more I wanted to be a part of it. Like many people, I had a chance to reflect during COVID and Me, Inc. provides an outlet for me to think critically about not only my strengths and weaknesses as a teammate, but also my core values and what I want to gain beyond the classroom during the next two years.”
Sarah Kiley (’23)

“My favorite MBA event was the Me, Inc. case competition. During the Me, Inc. case competition, first-year MBA students are provided with a real-world case and are asked to create innovative solutions to the company’s business challenges over the course of a few days. The Me, Inc. case competition reflects Kelley’s culture of collaboration and working together to solve complex problems. During the case competition I solidified bonds with my CORE team and made lifelong friends.”
Tobi Ojo (’21)

4) Hands-On Experience: “What stood out most about Kelley was how the program places significant effort in imparting real-world practical knowledge to students through their in-class collaborative learning setting, their academies, and GLOBASE. This is very important to me because it allows me to stay engaged with organizations regardless of being away from work for two years to complete my MBA. The mere fact that Kelley still allows their students to have the opportunity to learn through experiencing real projects in the US and globally made my decision easy.  With the help of the Consulting Academy and GLOBASE, coupled with a major in management, I will confidently have the skillset and business acumen to analyze an organization and its industry to provide a tailored experience for businesses to accomplish their immediate and long-term goals.”
Emmanuel Omoegbele (’23)

5) Bloomington: “[There is the myth that] a small college town in the Midwest would be a boring place. It is the opposite!! Because it’s a college town, we have a closer MBA circle after class. Events also have a higher participation rate. Besides, Bloomington is home to almost 50K students who come from all around the world, which means a greater variety of food in the restaurants across town. I have enjoyed exploring different restaurants and have even exchanged our top restaurant lists.”
Wanshu Chou (’21)

6) 1Kelley: “One of the main reasons I chose Kelley’s MBA Program was due to the experiential learning that is offered. Kelley provides so many opportunities that allow you to impact the community around you while also learning and growing at the same time. A few programs I am excited to participate in are 1Kelley, a consulting initiative focused on supporting Bloomington businesses, and the Washington Campus, a week-long deep dive into how public policies impact industries and businesses we work in.”
Madelynn Kuerschner (’23)

“I am drawn to the 1Kelley experiential learning. I have experienced the challenges as a female small business owner. I will be combining my MBA and entrepreneurial experience to help women and minority-owned businesses in the Bloomington area to pave a path for their growth.”
Akua Obenewaa Donkor (’23)

7) STEM: “There were several factors that led me to decide on Kelley. One of them was its STEM-designated majors. My mind is set to develop and continuously improve a Supply Chain in a client-oriented fashion. For that purpose, leveraging technology and data is fundamental. As a professional, having a STEM- designated MBA can give me a competitive advantage. I will be able to see problems and solutions from both the business perspective and technology perspective, and lead projects and people from both of those backgrounds.”
Eric Bukstein (’23)

8) Kelley Clap: “The “Kelley Clap” is lived every day, perhaps every hour, at Kelley.  At the end of every class session, my classmates and I break into applause. This is not to convey some fleeting enthusiasm or to signal our relief that the class session is over. Rather, the Kelley Clap is a recognition of the learning that has taken place within the classroom.  The tradition is linked to beloved professor Walt Blacconiere, who passed away in 2007 from pancreatic cancer.  Professor Blacconiere ended each class with the Clap, and it now persists across Kelley as a nod to our status as a community of learners.”
Jake Frego (’21)

9) Career Support: “As a career changer, I was looking for a program that would know how to guide and support me during my pivot. Kelley is known for having some of the best career services with their helpful coaches and insightful programs. I repeatedly saw evidence of that during my admissions process when meeting both alumni and current students that were successful career changers thanks to Graduate Career Services.”
Nada Daher (’23)

10) GLOBASE: “I really look forward to the Global Business and Social Enterprise (GLOBASE) Program. This program is dedicated to equipping students with real world experience through collaborative global projects. Her, they will learn to provide clients tools to clear barriers to growth, identify expansion opportunities, and find markets for their products in emerging economies all over the world. Being able to mix my love for collaborating with others to make an impact and my love to travel and learning about unique cultures makes this an experience I look forward to during my enrollment at Kelley.”
Emmanuel Omoegbele (’23)

SOME PARTING ADMISSIONS ADVICE

“To get into Kelley — and probably many other programs — I would advise applicants to build a narrative for themselves that gives each a personal purpose to be part of the program. Grab some pen and paper and ask yourself: Who am I? What have I been doing so far? What do I want to do in the future? What are those skills that I need to develop for that future? How can Kelley specifically and singularly help me develop those skills? What can I contribute with in an MBA classroom, given my past experience? These questions imply knowing who you are and knowing the school where you are applying. And that takes work. You can look for guidance in Noah Gordon’s book, MBA Admissions Strategy: From Profile Building to Essay Writing.”
Eric Bukstein (’23)

“My advice for other applicants would be this: Don’t develop imposter syndrome like I did. Every single person I have talked to comes from a different background with different experiences in different stages of their life. Share your story in the application process of how your experience makes you unique and how that will positively contribute to the program. My approach with applying to Kelley specifically was to share my personal story and what I felt my strengths were. From there, I would articulate where the gaps in my skillset were that I was hoping to improve while at Kelley. I would also recommend reaching out to the university to connect with staff, professors, current students or recent alumni to gain further perspective on the fit. Kelley did an excellent job of demystifying the process and being extremely open to connect to minimize stress on applicants.”
Jim Dyer (’23)

MBA Student	Hometown	Undergrad Alma Mater	Last Employer
Eric Bukstein	Montevideo, Uruguay	Universidad ORT	TATA Supermarkets
Nada Daher	Dearborn Heights, MI	Wayne State University	Beaumont Health System
Jim Dyer	Arlington Heights, IL	Illinois State University	Select Medical
Daniel Hammerschlag	Englewood, NJ	Brandeis University	Self-Employed (Spirits)
Rekha Jagadish	Bangalore, India	St. Joseph’s College of Commerce	Wells Fargo
Talgat Kopzhanov	Taraz, Kazakhstan	Purdue University	ExxonMobil
Sarah Kiley	Dorchester, MA	Northeastern University	Georgetown University
Josh Kuiper	Lowell, IN	Purdue University	U.S. Marine Corps
Madelynn Kuerschner	Woodridge, IL	Indiana University	Abercrombie and Fitch
Marisa Moran	Denver, CO	University of Colorado	Field Museum of Natural History
Akua Obenewaa Donkor	Adjemesu, Ghana	Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology	DecoKraft Limited
Emmanuel Omoegbele	Houston, TX	University of Houston	KPMG