Harika Jayanthi

“A versatile and an emotionally intelligent individual. Learning something new about myself and the world every day”

Hometown: Bangalore, India

Fun Fact About Yourself: I got my entire student housing to sign up for the inter-hostel football tournament during my undergrad. With only 4 of us having a clue about the game, we won the tournament thanks to our teamwork and some quick thinking!

Undergraduate School and Major: Bachelor of Engineering in Information Science and Technology, BMS College of Engineering, Bangalore, India

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Senior Member of Technical Staff, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure

What makes Seattle such a great place to earn an MBA?

Seattle is a fantastic place to live and then earn an MBA. The city is home to major corporations like Amazon and Microsoft, and offers excellent networking and job opportunities. Its vibrant startup culture supports aspiring entrepreneurs with resources and mentorship. The supportive business community fosters camaraderie among MBA students, enriching their experience and growth.

Beyond a buzzing business community, Seattle has some of the most mind-blowing skies, sunsets, beaches, lakes, and hilltop views. It is welcoming to people with all kinds of interests. It has the terrain and infrastructure for various activities—running, hiking, skiing, yoga, arcade games, and international food enthusiasts—making it a great place to enjoy a high quality of life.

Aside from your location and classmates, what was the one key part of Washington Foster’s MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you?

The experiential learning opportunities through the applied strategy project, global consulting projects, and core case competition made me prioritize Washington Foster’s MBA over other schools. These opportunities allowed me to apply my classroom learnings to solve real problems in the business world. This was very important to me since I was transitioning from a highly technical computer science background into the business world and to perform in my job roles after the MBA to the best of my abilities, practical experience is crucial. I am currently working on an applied strategy project with Microsoft, and I am grateful to the Foster School of Business for bringing these opportunities to us.

What course, club or activity have you enjoyed the most so far at Washington Foster?

The finance classes by Thomas Gilbert have been my favorite part of the program. The well-curated course challenges us to apply important/ tricky financial concepts to practical applications. Professor Gilbert’s teaching style ensures that beginners and experienced students gain valuable insights from each class. Coming into the program with zero business knowledge, I was initially intimidated by finance and accounting. However, after just 10 weeks into the quarter, I was able to create financial projections by myself! Beyond the steep learning curve, this experience was profoundly reassuring and greatly enhanced my self-confidence. I owe this to Professor Gilbert and the course offered by UW’s Foster School of Business. I am eager to dive into electives in the upcoming quarters and explore the incredible courses it offers.

Washington Foster operates off a philosophy of We>Me. Give us an example of how you’ve seen that among your classmates so far.

The class of 2026 has always had each other’s backs since day one. The MBA core teams I participated in included amazing people who supported each other’s recruiting efforts. If any team member had interviews, the rest of the team would step up, hype them up, connect them to the right resources, take on their share of the group assignments, and, in short, do anything to help them succeed.

Another endearing effort that stands out to me is when some wonderful people from the class created common Slack channels that allowed classmates who received interviews from companies known for having very tough interviews to help each other prepare, share preparation materials, and detail the questions they had encountered. This effort uplifted not just themselves but the entire class.

These efforts are a true testament to the power of the Washington Foster community, and I am proud to be part of a cohort with such a strong sense of camaraderie.

Describe your biggest achievement in the MBA program so far:

Winning 3rd place in the First-year Case Competition has been my biggest achievement so far. It required us to apply our learnings from marketing, strategy, finance, and accounting to solve a real-life mergers and acquisitions problem. The one week of preparation was rigorous but helped me learn extensively from my talented team members, who patiently corrected me at every step. About 20 teams presented their pitches and documents to a panel of senior finance and marketing managers from companies such as Microsoft and Amazon, among which four teams were selected to enter the final round. I was ecstatic as my team was one of these four, and we then presented our pitch in front of the entire cohort, faculty, and alumni panel.

What has been your best memory as an MBA so far?

In addition to all the fun times at MBA gatherings and sports events, one of my favorite memories was the Diwali party organized by International Student Affairs for the Foster MBAs. Many of our classmates, not just the Indian students, who primarily celebrate the festival enthusiastically, dressed up in Indian attire, learned our dance moves, and some even performed Indian songs. To see my classmates really immerse themselves in some experiences from my culture and have a blast was truly heartwarming.

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