I returned to school for my MBA, because I wanted new knowledge and perspectives, and career and salary advancement. I knew returning to school for my MBA would allow me to learn new concepts and points of view from professors and peers with diverse educational backgrounds, and professional experiences that would aid in my career advancement.
I picked St. Kate’s because I liked that we were able to go to the campus for classes, prior to the pandemic of course. I personally find it easier to learn and connect with others in-person vs virtually. St. Kate’s also offered students the opportunity to specialize in a particular area, which was something I was looking for when deciding where to go back to school.
Furthering my education has always been one of my personal and professional goals. St. Kate’s allowed me to achieve both my personal and professional goals by having an advanced degree program that matched my field of study and pushed me to keep going. I am the only one in my immediate family and one of the few people on my team at work to obtain a master’s degree.
After completing my MBA, I have been able to stand out amongst my colleagues by utilizing my new knowledge and skills from the program at work. Which has landed me more complex projects to lead and manage.
My long-term career aspirations are to become a leader in my chosen field, the healthcare industry. While also being exposed to new parts of the company, being more hands-on with operations, and obtaining a stronger track record of result making.
I attended St. Kate’s for my Undergraduate degree and graduated May 2020! I loved my time at St. Kate’s and received my B.S. in Healthcare Sales. During my time at St. Kate’s, I was very involved with the business department and had the opportunity to articulate and take two MBA classes during my Undergrad. I loved the program and the professors and knew I wanted to continue my MBA with St. Kate’s.
I specifically chose St. Kate’s for the small class sizes, their mission to lead and influence women, and for the overall support the university provides to all students.
My MBA is helping me lead and influence within my new job. I recently completely switched industries and I have been able to leverage my degree to advocate for myself and my abilities. Switching industries is never easy, but having my MBA aided in my switch tenfold.
I just switched industries from pharmaceutical sales to software enterprise sales. These fields could not be more different, and I am glad I took the leap to change my professional focus. Less than 30% of software sales representatives are women.
My goal is to work my way up within a company to an executive role. I want to lead young professionals and help them make advances within their career and company.
It’s hard to pick specifics around the program because everything was amazing. Our small class size and ability to get to know our professors and peers on a higher level definitely meant the most to me. I am the first one in my family to attend college, let alone complete a master’s degree, so the support and encouragement from those around me is irreplaceable. The MBA program shaped who I am as a young professional and gave me the ability to grow in ways I didn’t even know were possible.
Most of my colleagues have an MBA, so I think having this business background opens up career options for me down the road. It's a good base. I work for a big corporation, Boston Scientific. My social media role is part of the marketing communications function and I work very closely with the marketing team. I wanted to do this program while continuing my job.
I've learned so many things I’ve already been able to apply my job. I didn't have to wait and get my degree to actually use the learnings.
I'm an Indian woman focused on women's social equity. Being a proud person of color, I appreciate the social justice piece at St. Kate’s and it being such a woman-centric campus. These things are important to me.
People in my program are phenomenal. Group work is a big part of our classes and it’s very real-world. You work with people with different skill sets and different backgrounds and styles. Finance is not my forte, but if I have someone from, say, Wells Fargo in my group, that person can teach me a lot of things.
The sheer amount of social support surprised me. There are a lot of resources available to help young women, from financial assistance to food scarcity. I don't think I was fully aware of how invested St. Kate’s is in the community. I value an institution that's giving back. I could see my tuition is not only helping my career, but where funds are going. That's been something to be proud of. It doesn't feel like it's just a corporate program when everyone's invested.
The leadership skills I learned were super helpful. We focus a lot on diversity, because that’s such an important topic in our community. As a hiring manager, it’s important to ask, ‘Am I finding talent representative of our patients or customers?’
I started off a nursing major. After my first semester, I was feeling overwhelmed, so I reached out to my advisor, and we just started talking about what I was interested in. She suggested for the next semester, I take a broad range of classes that still go towards my BA. I ended up taking micro-economics, creative writing, sociology and philosophy. I really enjoyed the microeconomics professor and she pointed out how I just breezed through the class. I made an appointment with her and that’s how I landed on economics. I would have never seen myself getting into econ or international studies. I would have laughed. In my house, political topics and issues were never a big thing.
While I got into nursing to help others, I realized you don’t need to be in the medical field to do that. For example, I can help others with econ by looking further into economic disparities and pinpointing why some people are better off than others. That it’s because it’s been structured that way.
One place I love is the MIPS office (Multicultural and International Programs and Services). I was invited to just hang out there. Seeing international students, being part of their community, learning their favorite foods, favorite music, their language, has been great. It's a place that really welcomed me in terms of being a Latina. You don't have to be an international student, either. We have a lot of students who come in and connect culturally with others. It’s one of the cool things that made me feel, ok, I belong here.
I would tell an incoming student that it's okay not to know exactly what you want to do. In my experience, St. Kate’s has really helped me through that process and everything has fallen into place.
The amount of opportunities St. Kate’s makes available to students still surprises me. We get to know the professors really well. They reach out all the time. I recently got an email from a professor after
I am currently working at St. Croix Cleaners as their Alterations Specialist. Many of the fashion design programs I’ve taken at St. Kates have helped with properly fitting and perfecting the alterations needed to please the customer. Also, some merchandising programs helped with understanding the wants and needs of my clientele.
My advice I would give future Katies of the FD&M Department is don’t be afraid to take charge and lead. Communicate and connect with your colleagues and clients. Remember you have a natural gift that reflects the hard work and determination that you accomplished to achieve your goals.
I had a great experience at St. Kate’s! The Fashion Design & Merchandising department became my home. The professors and my class were like my family.
There are so many opportunities to get involved and build yourself up as a fashion designer. Some of my favorite memories are when we got to enter in local fashion shows/competitions and it was a part of our class work!
If I could give out any advice, it would be to follow your heart and believe in your design. Also, don’t stay up all night sewing. Your mind needs a break!
After my undergrad, I was still trying to find my niche when I got my hands on a St. Kate’s catalog. At the time, it was one of only two schools offering an MPH program. I fell in love with its global health focus. It really struck me as the place we’re moving to as a more connected world.
The faculty worked directly with each student, and there was the freedom to explore and dive into topics of interest. Its relatively small size made it very manageable. I felt like I knew everybody, and it was easy to build friendships.
I was surprised—happily!—by the practicum, because you’re able to apply what you’re learning to real life settings. I truly enjoyed my graduate experience and I rave about it with colleagues.
I’m a strong advocate of the global health approach. Covid has shown us a lot. We rarely think about how an outbreak in a country far away can impact us. But we’re a lot more connected than we think we are.
“My best friend has a bad case of Crohn's disease and was very sick for a long time. She found relief through holistic health modalities—herbs, supplements and energy healing. It stimulated my interest.
There aren’t a lot of holistic health programs out there. This program just spoke to me. I was surprised by how dedicated the instructors are. They care so much and are so passionate. They’ll help you in any way possible to get through the program.
Healthcare is shifting toward a holistic direction because it’s not just about treating the problem with medicine but treating the person individually and meeting them where they are. It’s moving from reactive care to preventative care. It’s about the mind, body and spirit and identifying the gaps. If you're struggling mentally, maybe start a meditation practice or breathing exercises.
I'm a nurse, so I was looking at the program from a clinical practice standpoint. What I got was so much more. It helped me find my authentic self and the type of nurse I want to be.
I used to be a very reactive person. Now I’m more aware of how I fill a space. I focus on breathing when I get worked up and can control my emotions now. The program opened my eyes to the way the world really is. It gave me the ability to find and give grace to everyone and everything.
My background is hospice, oncology and palliative care nursing, so I streamlined my program toward holistic death and dying. I assisted in the death and dying class and did my practicum with a healthcare organization focusing on end-of-life documentation. Hospice isn’t depressing because I have a totally different view. It’s an honor to be with a patient or veteran at that specific moment in their life with their family. Because you're not just treating the patient, you're treating the entire family. I’m just helping them write their story. I’m hoping to get them to a point where they're comfortable and finishing up things in this life so they can move on to the next—whatever that is. It's guiding them to their own answers, back to their inner selves.
I’ve always been interested in international relations, so I knew I wanted to major in something international. At St. Kate’s, I was introduced to a new major—Women and International Development.
My first year, I learned a little about what my identity was as a woman in this world. Experiences of other people, including women, was something I wanted and needed to learn, especially in the realm of international development.
I had never been at an all-women’s school, but there are a lot of benefits. You might be put in a situation someday where you’re in a community that’s not your own, where they do things differently. It prepares you for the real world.
My first year, St. Kate’s felt like a small, local community. But then it introduced me to the broader community outside Saint Paul. Through my study abroad experiences and internships, St. Kate’s felt a lot bigger.
I am a Hmong American woman. I was not around a lot of powerful women of color in high school. It was nice to see women here in leadership roles and think I can be one of them, too. There were a lot of great mentors here. One mentor was a Fulbright Scholarship recipient to Laos. She inspired me to apply for a Fulbright. She made it seem possible. I had the support of strong women behind me. I did receive a Fulbright in 2019 to Laos. It was the peak of my undergrad experience. Now I want to use everything I learned to support women around me.
My study abroad experience during my second year was in Japan. I’d received a Gilman scholarship to go. I also did a lot of internships as part of the community leadership program, which finds paid internships for students. I actually worked four different internships throughout my third and fourth years. I was also involved in clubs, including Diversity Chair for the Student Senate Association.
I believe the mind, body and spirit are all interconnected. In my Hmong religion, our shamans believe when one’s spirit is lost or not with the body, this leads to sickness or ill health. So, as a single mom of four, when my kids were sick and the doctors didn't know what to do besides waiting it out and I didn't want to keep asking the shaman, I felt at a dead end with both medicine and my shaman culture. I got into this program to learn more about what is out there. I’m interested to know more about the spirit side and more about healing my children.
I am currently a mental health case manager at the Wilder Foundation working with the Hmong population. I'm hoping to incorporate what I learn from this program into my work. I see it starting to happen — this holistic approach, not just the mental and physical. I'm hoping to educate my clients in that same way.
St. Kate’s is the only school I know offering this program. Financial aid was also a huge part of my decision to go to St. Kate’s. I had some scholarship and there was also a Kissinger scholarship through the program. Otherwise, it wouldn't be affordable. I have friends who went to St. Kate’s, too, who are highly educated and that was another reason.
When my program switched to online, I needed a laptop to do all the research. The IT department worked to loan one to me. That’s been really helpful. Because I don’t have a laptop, I could not make this education happen otherwise.
For me, this program has been a bridge to what I need to know. All this information has opened my eyes and given me everything I need to help my clients going forward. In this industry, you're kind of stuck without extra education. That was a barrier and why I decided to pursue my master’s degree. So I looked for something I wanted and loved to do.
Be open is what I would say to other students. Just do it for yourself and remember why you are here. I had to really motivate myself because no one's going do that besides myself or my professors.