Meet our Students

Joni Johnson

Downtown MBA Student

Position: Sr. Project Manager

Company: Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD)

Undergrad Institution: Northwestern University

Undergrad Major: Civil Engineering

Why you are doing your MBA?

I’m getting an MBA because I want to transition my career from engineering to management.

Why Marquette?

I chose Marquette because of the excellent name recognition and its convenient location.

A day/week in the life of a working graduate student.

Most semesters, I try to take two 3-credit courses. For a typical 3-credit course, I find I spend an average of 4 hours /week attending class, including commuting, 4 to 5 hours per week with reading and assignments and exam review, and 2 to 3 hours per week on group projects. Unfortunately, the group project work tends to be skewed towards the end of the semester, which can present challenges. The reality is that if I’m not in class on a week-day evening, I’m probably home working on it. I do try to keep Sundays free for family activities and one night free for tennis (see below.)

I am coming to realize that an MBA is also an MTA – Masters in Time Management. Sometimes I need to do a bit of triage with my schoolwork – what is absolutely essential to do versus what is being asked by the professor. To paraphrase a classmate, we could all get A’s if we had enough time.

I expected the MBA to give me opportunities to meet and learn from fellow students, employed by numerous area companies. This has indeed been the case. But I’ve been pleasantly surprised by two other benefits I’ve received. The first is the evenings I spend sitting around the dining room table with my children, all of us working on homework. That’s parenting by example, no doubt. The second is the access to the Helfaer Rec Center. I’m an avid tennis player and I love the price of membership (free!)

Michelle Waite

Downtown MBA Student

Position: Electrical Project Engineer

Company: Harley-Davidson Motor Company

Undergrad Institution: Kettering University (formerly GMI)

Undergrad Major: Electrical Engineering

Why you are doing your MBA?

Gain business skills that were not a part of my engineering curriculum and which I believe are vital for business leaders.

Why Marquette Waukesha program?

The convenience of scheduling already mapped out and time commitment advantages.

A day/week in the life of a working graduate student.

I start my week out usually wishing I had studied more over the weekend. Then I fill my week with work, family, and classes. I enjoy studying at the Marquette Library when I can get away but if not the majority of my studying takes places at my kitchen table. Getting up an hour early goes a long way when trying to manage a normal life. My husband handles a majority of the responsibilities at home since I began school so it would have been difficult if not impossible to do it without him. In regards to ordering books I always check for prices on-line before I consider purchasing them at the Marquette book store. I then start my weekend wishing I had studied more during the week.

Mike Schmidt

Waukesha MBA Student

Position: Manufacturing Manager

Company: Dedicated Computing

Undergrad institution: University of Wisconsin - Whitewater

Undergrad major: BBA in Operations Management

Why you are doing your MBA?

Continuation of my education and personal goals

Why Marquette Waukesha program?

The location of the program (MRA) is perfect for my commute. The professors are the same as on campus. The Marquette program has a better reputation outside of Wisconsin (people have heard of Marquette outside of the Midwest region). This has also been a great way to network and benchmark with others working in the local community.

A day/week in the life of a working graduate student.

Typically I find myself spending about 15 hours a week dedicated to school. I typically study on lunch or for a few hours in the evening. Weekend mornings at the coffee shop are a great way to get some studying in as well (substitute your favorite text book for the Sunday morning paper). I have also found a unique way of purchasing my text books - www.coursesmart.com I recommend the E-text book. It's eco-friendly and easy to use, not to mention the fact that it's half the price of a used hard copy!

During the program I also rediscovered the importance of exercise as an effort to keep a balance in life. I try to squeeze an hour in at the gym at least 4 days a week if not more. It helps for me to unwind for a while and keeps me mentally sharp during the rest of the week.

Amit Mehta

Waukesha MBA Student

Position: Systems Design Engineer

Company: Philips Healthcare

Undergrad Institution: University of Wisconsin - Madison

Undergrad Major: Biomedical Engineering

Why are you doing your MBA?

Further my career, obtain business knowledge and skills, gain finance expertise, combine with engineering degree to grow in my career.

Why Marquette Waukesha program?

Close proximity to work (less that 2 min drive) made it obvious choice.  One-night-a-week classes made it manageable as well.

A day/week in the life of a working graduate student:

I'm currently taking courses at the Marquette campus, but when I was taking classes solely at the Waukesha campus, I would have classes from 5:30 - 10pm every Tuesday night.  Since the MRA building is close by my work in Pewaukee, I would leave from work around 4:30 to get to class and prepare for the upcoming lecture, converse with fellow classmates, study (cram) for exam, and/or meet with the professor.  During class, we tend to get 1-2 breaks and I would bring food from home to class.  My classmates and I would rotate amongst each other every week on who's going to bring treats.  This would allow us to get some sort of sugary snack during the break time. 

Apart from Tuesday nights, I would spend most evenings after work doing homework, preparing for exams, or working on projects/case responses.  Most projects are done in groups, thus my teammates and I would frequently email each other throughout the week on the progress of the project.  We break down the project evenly so that each person has something to work on.  We would sometimes have short teleconferences in the evening or meet in the local library to collaborate on reports/presentations.

I typically buy my books from Half.com.  I find them much cheaper than the Marquette bookstore.  Further, I recently discovered Chegg.com, in which you can "rent" your textbook and then just return it for free at the end of the term.  This is a practice that I have taken on this semester only.  I found that I have saved an incredible amount of money by using these two avenues of obtaining course textbooks.

Ling Lin

Master of Science in Applied Economics Program

Position: Graduate Assistant for the EMBA program

Company: Marquette University

Undergrad Institution: St. Norbert College

Undergrad Major: Business and Economics

Why you are doing your MS degree?

Apart from being interested in Economics when I was at St. Norbert College, I wanted to enhance my career opportunities by furthering my education.

Are you doing it PT or FT?

Full time

A day/week in the life of a MS student.

I spent a lot of time at David Straz Hall. Not only are my classes there, I also study there all the time. I mostly study in the atrium or in my office since I tend to lose focus when I study at home. I had a great study group when I first started at Marquette; it helped me tremendously with my course studies as well as it helped me learn to work with different personalities.  Team work is a big part of MU’s environment where I typically get at least one team project a semester; it forces me to be flexible, meet deadlines, and collaborate with others. Being a student is great, however, there were times where I felt disconnected with family and friends from home because I was studying all the time. I have learned that family and friends are one of the most important aspects in life, no matter how busy I get (especially during finals week), I would always try to call them or text them to show that I care.