Hyemin Lee

Boston College, Carroll School of Management

“Focused on today, doing the work and doing it well.”

Hometown: Seoul, South Korea

Fun fact a bout yourself: I played junior and professional golf in South Korea for 10 years. Golf shaped almost everything about me: my love of warm weather, my ability to stay positive under pressure, and my habit of taking things one step at a time. It taught me that consistency and the right mindset matter more than perfection.

Undergraduate School and Degree: Kyunghee University, Dual B.S. in International Studies and Physical Education & Golf Management

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school? Golfzon, South Korea. Golfzon specializes in indoor golf simulators and diverse businesses built around the simulator experience. I worked with the AI and Software Development team on swing analysis app features.

Where did you intern during the summer of 2025? Adobe Inc., San Jose, CA

Where will you be working after graduation? Adobe, Inc. as a Technical Account Manager

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School: Vice President, Graduate Tech Club (August 2024 to May 2025)

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? Surviving and thriving through one of the most demanding first years I could have imagined. BC’s quarter system meant exams every three to four weeks, a relentless rhythm layered on top of finance and accounting problem sets, heavy case reading loads, and a full-throttle internship recruiting season. Balancing all of that while building a new life in the U.S. pushed me to sharpen my priorities, manage my energy, and develop a discipline I did not know I had. Finishing my first year with a 3.8 GPA is something I am genuinely proud of, not just as a number, but as proof to myself that I can handle complexity, juggle competing demands, and still perform well when the stakes are high.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? Successfully transitioning my career across both industries and countries and finding work that truly excites me.

Growing up as an athlete in South Korea meant academics often took a backseat. But when I arrived at Kyunghee University, I started to see a world beyond tournament golf. I became serious about my studies and began imagining a career on the business side of the sport. That led me to Golfzon, where I worked at the intersection of golf, AI, and software development. The experience sparked a growing passion for the tech industry, though at the time I could not imagine leaving golf altogether.

Moving to the US and pursuing my MBA changed that. Through my internship at Adobe, I gained the confidence to step outside the boundaries I had set for myself. Golf will always be part of who I am, but I am proud that I have expanded beyond it and that I am heading into a career in enterprise technology that I find deeply engaging.

Why did you choose this business school? Two things drew me to BC: its tight-knit community and its breadth of academic offerings.

I moved to the US in 2023, just a year before starting my MBA, and building genuine connections in a new country was a real priority for me. I am naturally introverted, though I have always pushed myself to be more outward-facing and engaged. I worried that a large program might make it harder to form the kind of meaningful relationships I was looking for. BC’s smaller cohort made that feel possible, and it turned out to be one of the best decisions I made.

Academically, I wanted a well-rounded foundation in finance, marketing, data analytics, and strategy rather than deep specialization in one area. BC’s flexible elective structure allowed me to explore different areas while learning from professors who brought real depth and perspective into the classroom.

Who was your favorite MBA professor? Professor Tieying Yu. Her classes were consistently engaging and built around rich case studies and lively discussion. However, what stood out most was how she showed up as a leader and mentor. She learned every student’s name within the first few class sessions, arrived visibly prepared, and made time for lunch meetings mid-quarter to solicit feedback. Furthermore, no matter how wide-ranging the discussion got, she always brought the conversation back to the core material with clarity and purpose. There was as much to learn from watching her lead a classroom as there was from the content itself.

What was your favorite course as an MBA? Strategic Management. I have always loved case-based learning, but this course stood out for the sheer range and quality of the cases: Gucci, L’Oreal, Google, Garmin, Disney-Pixar, and more, spanning industries, geographies, and time periods. What I found most valuable was not just analyzing what companies did in hindsight. It was the conversation. Every case opened up space for perspectives I had not considered, and there was never one right answer. The problems and tensions that came up in those cases felt real and applicable to business today and to the kind of work I want to do.

What was your favorite MBA event or tradition at your business school? Orientation Week, without a doubt. Before the semester officially began, it was the one stretch of time dedicated entirely to getting to know your classmates. It was intense, with long days of socializing and learning, but it was also when I met my closest friends and study partners. Those early roundtable conversations formed the foundation of the support system that carried me through the program.

Looking back over your MBA experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently and why? Honestly, not much. I came in with clear goals: build new skills, find my footing in the US, and transition into a career that excited me. The experience delivered on all of them. If anything, I might have pushed myself to step outside my comfort zone even earlier, particularly when it came to networking. As someone who tends toward introversion, I sometimes held back in moments where being more proactive might have opened interesting doors. But even that hesitation taught me something about myself, and I have few real regrets.

What did you love most about your business school’s town? BC is situated in Chestnut Hill, a peaceful and residential area but still close enough to the city to get anywhere easily. The B-line train runs right through it, which made getting into Boston simple without needing a car. The reservoir nearby and the beauty of the campus itself made it a great place to take a break and relax. It had the calm of a neighborhood without feeling isolated, which was exactly the balance I needed.

What business leader do you admire most? Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA. He is widely admired for building one of the most innovative companies in tech while staying genuinely humble and deeply committed to the people around him.

What is one way that your business school has integrated AI into your programming? What insights did you gain from using AI? BC offers courses like AI in Business that go beyond surface-level exposure to AI. What stood out to me was how the program approached AI not as a threat to manage, but as a shift to prepare for strategically. While a lot of the conversation in the broader world still centers on fear, whether AI will replace jobs or render certain skills obsolete, BC pushed students to ask a different set of questions: what kind of professional do you need to become, how do you adapt, and how do you use AI to create value rather than just keep up with it.

That reframing stuck with me. The insight I took away is that the people who will matter most going forward are not the ones who are most afraid of AI, nor the ones who blindly rely on it. Instead, they are the ones who develop the judgment to know when and how to use it well. AI can accelerate a lot of things, but asking the right question, making the right call, and building real relationships still requires a human on the other side.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? Kevin Pandji. Kevin is one of the most well-rounded people I have met: sharp, reliable, and kind in the truest sense of the word. He is the person who offers a ride before you even think to ask, who stays to explain a concept until it actually clicks, who shows up for people without ever needing recognition for it. What makes him stand out is not just how good he is at what he does, but how effortlessly he carries it. He managed demanding coursework, caring for his fiancée, and being there for the people around him all at once, without ever seeming overwhelmed or scattered. He handles pressure with a quiet steadiness that I deeply admire. He never compromises on quality, but he also knows when good enough is actually enough, which is a harder skill to develop than it sounds.

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list? First, I want to lead a team, and do it well. Not just manage tasks, but be the kind of leader people genuinely want to work with. That takes both the technical credibility to earn trust and the human awareness to actually understand the people around you. It is something I want to build intentionally over time.

Second, I want to be someone who creates value that AI cannot replace. I want to be deeply fluent in AI, using it as a tool to do work that is more creative, more strategic, and more impactful. The professionals who will matter most in the next decade will be the ones who know how to wield AI with judgment and purpose.

What made Hyemin such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2026?

“Hyemin arrived at BC with a unique combination of discipline, global perspective, and professional experience shaped by both athletics and technology. Prior to her BC MBA, she competed on the Korean Ladies Professional Golf Association tour, where she earned Class A membership and competed at the highest levels of professional golf in South Korea. Following her time on tour, she began her professional career at Golfzon, a leading golf technology company founded in South Korea. At Golfzon, Hyemin developed a strong foundation at the intersection of sport, technology, and business and ultimately recognized the value of strengthening her strategic and analytical skills. She was drawn to the BC MBA for its small cohort, strong alumni network, and close-knit culture, ultimately selecting the STEM track as the ideal environment to deepen her quantitative capabilities.

Throughout her time at BC, whether excelling in her coursework, thoughtfully navigating her career search, or contributing to student outreach and admissions events, Hyemin’s professionalism, focus, and dedication have been evident.

While she initially considered returning to the sports industry, Hyemin remained open to exploring new paths and ultimately secured an internship as an Associate Technical Account Manager at Adobe in San Jose, where she will return full-time after graduation. Hyemin has been a joy to work with, and I am confident that the same discipline, adaptability, and commitment to excellence that defined her time at BC will continue to distinguish her as she builds her career in the technology industry.”

Marilyn Eckelman
Associate Dean, Graduate Programs
Boston College Carroll School of Management

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