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My Smith Experience

Seize Leadership Opportunities

Maria Herold
University of Maryland, College Park, Robert H. Smith School of Business
MBA Graduation Year: 2021

I decided to get my MBA because I wanted to change my career path and wanted to be very intentional about it. An MBA seemed like the best option for me to build a network, understand different roles and industries, and intentionally choose the next step in my career. I chose Maryland Smith because of the great educational experience I had for undergrad, and the great recruiting experience I had. Additionally, the cohort size made me feel as though I would be able to find a great community there.

The Mayer Fund was my favorite course in the program. Being able to get real life experience in market and company analysis and portfolio investing, in an educational ecosystem, created a fun and collaborative environment for my class. I learned a lot from that class that I will use in both personal and professional settings. One of my favorite professors was Rebecca Hann - I came in with prior experience in accounting, and still learned a lot from her class. She has a way of putting accounting concepts into real, relatable terms that made the class fun!

I enjoyed being encouraged to take part in extracurricular activities and leadership positions within the program. This allowed me to meet and engage with classmates that I might not have taken classes with and build more meaningful connections. I also realized how important affinity groups, especially ones focused on being a woman in business, are to me and my development.

I enjoyed being encouraged to take part in extracurricular activities and leadership positions within the program. This allowed me to meet and engage with classmates that I might not have taken classes with and build more meaningful connections.

Maria Herold (MBA ’21)

My classmates were fun and collaborative, with wide prior experiences and interesting career goals. We were all able to network with each other to refine our career goals, share tips on interviewing, working styles, companies, and really mutually use each other’s perspectives to grow as individuals.

The program allowed me to take a step back and reflect on what I wanted out of a career and company as an employee. From there, it gave me the opportunity to explore different career paths, network with people in different roles, and be exposed to different companies out there. I was able to get advice from professors and career coaches and bounce my ideas off of them, and generally get good guidance towards how I should go about taking next steps.

I would definitely recommend the program to others. Having the time to be deliberate about my career search, learn new concepts and brush up on others and really analyze these concepts in the context of real business problems, and make friends and expand my network are just some of the reasons it greatly benefitted me. I think anyone who wants to make a change in their career towards a business setting would find this opportunity valuable.