MBA Program

Student Voices

Mercedes Politi, MBA ’11

Open to the unknown

When I decided to come to MIT Sloan I had been working for the World Bank for two and a half years in the Development Economics Research Group. It was very intense intellectual work and very challenging, requiring me to apply all of my skills as an economist. When I became involved with the World Bank youth organization I started realizing that I really enjoyed implementing projects, solving problems, and working in teams in a dynamic setting. That was when I really started thinking about getting an MBA and making a career switch that allowed me to build on my solid academic background and gain solid management skills at the same time.

Looking forward, I believe MIT Sloan will open a lot of doors that I don't even know exist. I feel very open to several alternatives post-MBA and I think I am going to learn a lot not only from the coursework and from my teachers, but especially from my classmates. As I am getting to know my classmates, it is just amazing to see the diversity and breadth of experiences that come together in the classroom, enriching the discussions and the MBA experience as a whole. Moreover, I feel humbled and excited to be at a place like MIT that is pushing the borders of innovation continuously.

The right road

While I was at the World Bank, in my free time I participated in a contest called the Youth Innovation Fund. I designed a project that was selected by a senior committee of World Bank staff to be funded and implemented. I received $15K to carry out my youth development project in Morocco and coordinated the efforts of several partners throughout the project: an NGO, the local government, and a number of other companies. We selected forty unemployed youth and carried out workshops, helping them improve their CVs, and doing interview simulations. We looked for internships in the private and public sectors and helped place the majority of the participants, and some of them are actually getting stable jobs now. At that time I really felt the impact of my work and also realized the importance of counting on leadership and management tools to run a project smoothly.

I love hands-on work—building something from scratch—and I am sure that MIT Sloan will be the perfect place to further pursue my goals. When I went to AdMiT weekend I really felt this energy that pushes you to give the best of yourself. I can understand how people go to MIT and build a company because it is an environment that makes you work hard and dream, and that is what I am looking forward to. I think that in two years I will be doing something that I don't even know exists now … something that I never dreamed of.

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