Ross Takes: The Value Proposition of Business School Beyond The Classroom

If you’re considering business school, you’re probably wondering what your ROI will be. Perhaps you’ve actually built out an Excel spreadsheet to find the Net Present Value (NPV) of your MBA with your expected post-graduation salary. (If you don’t know what NPV is, you will learn and do that exact exercise in the Ross core finance class!) While numbers are great, they aren’t the only metric I considered.

I came to business school searching for something new, something different. I needed a change. I was not feeling satisfied with the work I was doing, my career trajectory, or the person I was when I showed up to work. I was terrified of becoming complacent and then looking back on my life and asking, “What have I done?”. My aspiration coming into business school was to elevate my impact, to do something greater than what I was before. Upon reflection, it seems this “something greater” is something deeper, more purposeful.

There are many reasons I feel fortunate to be at Michigan Ross. My experience as a teaching assistant for Andy Hoffman’s Management as a Calling (MaaC) course is one of those reasons. In this course, students are encouraged to reflect and explore their purpose and calling both individually and as a collective. Andy describes purpose as “why I’m here” and calling as the “enactment of the purpose.” In other words, your purpose can remain the same, but the way it’s achieved can vary. This seemingly simple distinction made me feel much more empowered; it allowed me to explore and feel less static while remaining connected to a deeper meaning.

Much of the value I have derived from business school comes from what I’ve done outside the classroom. My time spent on personal exploration, relationship-building, and reflection has been invaluable to me. I recommend that other business school students (aspiring and current alike) consider these intangibles as they approach or complete their program.

Exploration: Most people know that business school is used as an opportunity for career pivoters, which is definitely a great way to explore a new field, industry, or role. However, personal growth is another opportunity for exploration beyond career. Business school can be a playing field to rebrand yourself, heal from a toxic work environment, or explore different iterations of your calling.

While business school has allowed me to explore different career paths, it also gave me the time and space to slowly find myself again, as well as things that excited me. I rekindled my desire to be creative; exploring  at Ross has helped me re-awaken some parts of my brain that were not being exercised in my previous job. The +Impact Studio and Zell Lurie Institute (ZLI) programming both provided spaces to not only explore new ideas, but also immerse yourself among other innovative thinkers. ZLI’s Silicon Valley Experience brought me back to the Bay to traverse the hilly terrain that is San Francisco. While there, we connected with Michigan alums who are working in the startups and VC ecosystem. I was excited to see the Michigan presence in Silicon Valley—and their snack-filled offices overlooking clear blue skies over the Bay. I guess there is some truth to “Go Blue, Go Anywhere”. I encourage folks to lean into what excites you, recognize what doesn’t, and find the unique spaces and places that feel authentic to you. And go after that.

Relationship-Building: Business school is a completely new environment with an amalgamation of people from all over the world. There is a question about business school that has stayed with me: “When will we ever be in an environment with a collection of international, cross-disciplinary, multi-industry people at our fingertips again?”. The students, faculty, and alumni can add intangible value. I have met incredible people who each have varied career backgrounds and life experiences, as well as a desire to be a leader in some capacity. They also have a purpose and calling(s). This can easily be taken for granted, with the cult of busyness and perfectionism playing massive roles. We can miss out on building relationships because we over-index in spaces with smaller rewards.

For example, I’m guilty of spending extra hours on assignments that maybe resulted in marginal changes to my grades. I’ve course-corrected to investing my time in the occasional wine night, dinner, or your classic MBA international trip. Just this August, I co-led an “M-Trek” to Portugal and built connections with some of my incoming classmates over some Vinho Verde and exploring the Benagil Cave in Faro. Those memories will stay with me longer than a grade.

Where do you want to invest your time? I hope students take the opportunity to really get to know people and even be inspired by some of their goals and dreams—perhaps even be a helping hand in them. If you seek it, you will likely find people who have a similar purpose to yours, so you can each play a role in each other’s lives. Beyond finding purpose-mates, I now have dear friends from different continents, an adopted pet, and a renewed appreciation for truly getting to know people. A mentor of mine often quotes Maya Angelo – “People will never forget how you made them feel” – and there is so much truth to it. I’m fostering that by sharing my culture through home-cooked meals for my friends or dancing with my classmates at one of our cultural nights at Ross. Who doesn’t like food and dancing?

Reflection: Ok, yes – business school can be extremely busy, and it may seem like you don’t have time for anything. Still, making the time to reflect (and rest) can be extremely beneficial. However, since I was seeking something different for my personal and professional life, I now take stock of the experiences I’m having. I admit that I’m sometimes fearful that I’ll fall into the same cycles as before. Am I aligning with or actively seeking my purpose? I don’t know about you, but that question sometimes scares me. I’ve heard a similar fear with some of my peers not being sure what their purpose is. Over time, I’ve learned that the journey of seeking my purpose satisfies me—finding what I like, what motivates me, what  . And just as important – what doesn’t. I’ve learned that helping and empowering others feels congruent with my purpose. At Ross, I’ve practiced this in a few ways, including helping classmates with recruiting, offering interview prep for prospective students, or simply being a listening ear for a friend who is fearful of what’s next. If you recognize and reflect on the things that matter and those that don’t, you’re inevitably moving closer to your purpose.

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Two years fly by. I’m just over a year in, and it has truly gone by so quickly. Take stock of your emotions, your experiences, and your disposition. Reflect on what you want and need, and recalibrate if you’re not getting it.

I recognize the immense privilege I have of saying these things. Is an MBA just an expensive quarter-life crisis retreat? Two years of tuition and forgone income for personal exploration, building relationships, and reflection? You might say, no, I’m here to get the bag. Ok, get the bag, AND I encourage you to consider some of the above. I truly believe you’ll be a better leader, human, friend, and colleague for it. You are paying to participate in this social experiment, so to speak—why not actually experiment?

Bio: Born and raised in a sunny Arizona border town, Brianna graduated from Stanford University with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. After undergrad, she worked at Nike in several footwear product creation roles.

At Ross, Brianna serves on the boards of First at Ross, MBA Christian Fellowship (MCF), and Hispanic Business Students Association (HBSA). She is also involved in Business+Impact and Zell Lurie Institute (ZLI) for Entrepreneurial Studies programming and a TA for Andy Hoffman’s year-long Management as a Calling course.