The decision to pursue my Masters of Business Administration came only after finishing my undergraduate degree and being promoted

into management. Although not exactly my plans, my employment has provided me with valuable experience and growth that I would not trade. To be honest, I never saw myself in management and planned to go straight to law school after completing my undergraduate studies. I took the !AT the same day of my graduation. My graduating class was all lined up, beginning the procession, and here I was running into the building late. I still remember my mom and one of the volunteers hurriedly helping me put on my cap and gown as we marched. I had not even completed my final exams for the semester, but did not want to put off aw !chool considering I had delayed completing my bachelor"s degree. My !AT scores were not as satisfactory as I would have liked and shortly after receiving my results I was promoted at the company I worked at for several years. I figured I would use the management experience as leverage, since I had not completed an internship, and retake the !AT at a later date. #riginally promoted to a $ro%ect eader for the &ord 'enuine (irect) $rogram, I eventually became the main contact for all &ord programs at my company. *hile &ord programs were my primary focus on a day to day basis, I also oversaw several temporary prospecting programs. Managing different programs, acting as a liaison between clients and my business owners, training new employees, keeping current employees apprised of program updates, issue escalation, +uality control, and invoicing, while responsibly representing each company provided me with great attention to detail. ,andling these tasks I reali-ed that a manager"s position re+uired more critical thinking than I previously assumed. dealing with personnel issues, morale, assessing informational needs, remaining bias in all situations, maintaining budgets, and time management. $reviously I thought my manager"s %ob was simply to make sure I did my %ob. /uickly I reali-ed the assumptions I had about my previous managers would be key to managing employees who had no idea what 0business decisions1 were or what went into daily operations if it did not directly affect their daily assigned task. (aily interaction with clients and staff enhanced my verbal and written communication skills providing me with the knowledge to predict situational outcomes based on issues that would arise and ad%ust course of action. Management experience taught me to be ob%ective when dealing with people who I may not have previously agreed with and the true meaning of 0this is business, not personal.1 I learned to work with employee"s strengths instead of focusing on weaknesses which ultimately helped with pro%ect planning. After sitting in on a perspective client meeting, where we pitched a bid for new business, I reali-ed there was a lot more I did not know about the actual business development. I was learning more about employee management, but became interested in business operation and advancement opportunities. I would like to continue my education at *ayne !tate 2niversity, enrolling in the dual degree program for the Master of Business Administration with a concentration in International Business and 3uris (octor.