Sandy Lopez-Zeledon

Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business

Hometown: Panama City, Panama

Fun Fact About Yourself: I have lived in eight countries.

Undergraduate School and Major: University of Michigan, Bachelor of Science in Movement Science

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Thomas Concrete, Logistics Specialist

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: Being awarded a Navy and Marine Corps Commendation medal for my work as a telecommunications specialist in the Marine Corps.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? Openness; my classmates are incredibly open to learning about themselves and how to grow as business professionals.

Aside from your classmates, what was the key factor that led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA and why was it so important to you? I chose the Fisher MBA program because of the smaller class sizes. The most important factor for me in choosing a program was accessibility to resources. I was seeking a program where I could maximize my learning through class discussion and honest intellectual debate. I knew it would be harder to find in a larger program.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? The opportunity to participate in the Internal Case Competition and Business Lab Challenge at Fisher. They’ll provide me with a chance to apply the business knowledge I’ve acquired at Fisher to a consulting project that will be reflective of business problems I’ll solve as an MBA graduate. I’m looking forward to using the feedback I receive from my peers and the competition judges to improve upon and continue to build my business knowledge base.

What was the most challenging question you were asked during the admissions process? I was asked to describe the most valuable lesson I have learned from failure. This proved challenging because it required on-the-spot introspection about a situation I hadn’t fully considered.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? I believe it will provide me with the best opportunities for career progression and to build upon my leadership and team management skills.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? Apart from Fisher, I applied to Stern, Keenan-Flagler, and McCombs.

How did you determine your fit at various schools? The primary factors of importance for me during the MBA selection process were resources, culture, and class size. The resources I was specifically interested in were career management and leadership-based. I found that the Fisher career management office was incredibly thorough in providing me with an understanding of how to best use their staff. In terms of culture, I was seeking a program that felt unpretentious and genuine. At Fisher, the admissions committee was transparent, friendly and engaging.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? My defining moment was the culmination of my active duty enlistment in the Marine Corps. My time in the Marine Corps instilled in me a strong sense of personal responsibility, discipline, and confidence. That experience continuously serves as a source of strength I can pull from as I navigate through life.

Where do you see yourself in ten years? I see myself employed at a firm that values diversity in all aspects of business and that is actively pursuing efforts to improve the communities it operates in. Ideally, I will be working in a highly strategic role that emphasizes process improvement.