Why MBA?

Hi! My name is Tammy Lippert, and I am a first year full-time MBA student at the University of Arkansas in the Graduate School of Business of the Sam M. Walton College of Business (WCOB). I'm on a Silver External Graduate Assistantship with the Kellogg Company as a Pre-Professional Intern in a Sales Analyst capacity for the Walmart Ready-to-Eat Cereal (RTEC) Sales team. I also serve on the Student Advisory Board and as an Ambassador for the full-time MBA program with the Graduate School of Business (GSB). As a part of my ambassador role, I'm writing this blog to share my experiences in the program.

A little background about me - I earned my undergraduate degree in Economics from the Sam M. Walton College of Business in 2008. As a part of the honors program in college, I was able to graduate Cum Laude, write and publish an honors thesis, and receive grant funding to study abroad and study international business in Italy. I must say that I had an incredibly rewarding experience during my undergraduate studies through the WCOB. You might say that I've always looked to come back.

However, law school was my planned destination immediately post undergrad. I had dreamed of becoming a lawyer since I was in middle school - this was when I fell in love with the legal system during a REACH project where I was the defense attorney for the Big Bad Wolf in the trial for his life where he was charged with murder of the Three Little Pigs. I was successful in obtaining a 'not guilty' verdict, and from there on I was hooked. I continued to compete in mock trial and debate all throughout high school and college prepping for the day I would enter law school.

This day finally came in mid-August of 2008. As expected, the next three years were indeed some of the most challenging of my life where I worked harder than I ever knew I could. However, what I did not expect was how dramatically those three years would change my ambitions and perception of the legal field. Law school was simply not what I had dreamed it to be, and I even considered dropping out on several occasions. However, I refused to give up, and I stuck with it ultimately graduating from law school in May 2011. I spent the following summer studying diligently for the bar exam - I had come this far, and I didn't know what else to do except pursue an associate attorney position after three years of sweat and tears. I then sat for the bar exam at the end of July, fortunately passed with flying colors and was sworn into the Arkansas Bar in October.

During my final semester of law school and the summer I spent studying for the bar, I devoted a considerable amount of time to job searching for that associate attorney position. I applied for every opening and mass mailed my resume and cover letter to any firm that would take it. While job seeking, I volunteered as a Pro Bono and Helpline Attorney for Legal Aid of Arkansas and attended continuing legal education events across the state to gain experience and network with other attorneys and judges. Unfortunately, for me, all I found was a challenging legal job market and that associate attorney opening never came.

I began applying for other openings in NWA and hoped to fall back on my undergraduate business training. My business job search was much different than my legal job search. In contrast to finding few openings for entry level attorneys, I found many openings for business positions, but also discovered that pursuing an MBA would make me more competitive and open even more doors - and after only an 18 month program. Coming home to WCOB quickly became an easy decision to make.

After only two quick months in the full-time MBA program, I am confident that I am finally in the right place and have made the right decision. I am so grateful for all of the opportunities provided to us as students in the GSB and have found the environment in business school vastly different from law school. I am so happy in our program and find my classmates a joy to work with on a daily basis. Perhaps most importantly, I find that my career prospects are far more promising today than they were just 6 short months ago. I'm incredibly excited at how much brighter my future looks and to see where the WCOB takes me. I'm also excited you have decided to follow my journey. I promise to provide a candid account of what I learn along the way and I hope you enjoy my 'Mighty MBA'.

- Tammy :o)