Pivoting Into Business: From Individual Care to Systemic Change
As a speech-language pathologist, my life was centered on pediatric communication disorders and furthering accessibility and advocacy. I felt fulfilled, but as time passed, I began to feel restless.
Certain aspects of the healthcare system concerned me: obstructed access to care because of administrative red tape, a lack of resources for non-English-speaking families, and persistent provider burnout that led to knowledgeable clinicians leaving the field in droves were among the many things I experienced.
I had never considered pursuing business school, and the idea was daunting because I had zero corporate experience. How was I going to relate to my peers if I even got in? I hadn’t even started the application process, and I already felt behind.
So, I decided to reframe. I might have negligible experience with Excel, but I had managed sessions across ages, from toddlers to young adults, all of whom were working through varieties of behavioral, emotional, learning, and/or communication disorders. Whatever business school had in store, it couldn’t be nearly as difficult.
Initially, the Ross School of Business Full-Time MBA Program wasn’t on my radar. I applied, but I’d actually accepted an enrollment offer from another school in Texas, and I’d built a comfortable idea of my future surrounded by my friends and family in my home state. It would have worked out perfectly.
But then I got “The Call,” and I had to decide quickly: stay where I was, or move across the country? It seemed like a straightforward choice until I reached out to peers who had pursued MBAs, all of whom told me it was a no-brainer: if Ross offers you a spot, you accept. Even that, however, did not convince me.
What got me in the end was talking to U-M alumni. They helped me understand the network's strength, the opportunities the school provides, and, most importantly, the community I’d be part of. The Ross value proposition, in my opinion, is an emphasis on empathy and collaboration. I wanted community, and I would find it at Michigan Ross.
We’re now in our first winter semester, which is crazy to think about. I was warned that it would go by quickly, but it’s hard to believe until you live it. My daily life is dramatically different. Every day is stacked with academics and applications, and I haven’t modeled the correct pronunciation of the ”r” sound in almost a year. There are things I miss from my time before business school, but the sheer breadth of opportunities available to me is unimaginable. I’m about to embark on a Multidisciplinary Action Project in Shillong, Meghalaya. I’m going to visit China. I’ve made so many friends — people from other countries, people from other careers — none of whom I would have met under other circumstances.
Change can be tough, and there are days when I wonder if I’ll ever feel as fulfilled as I did working face-to-face with patients. But then I remember how impossible it felt to make lasting changes as a clinician, and how my desire to be a better advocate is what led me to pursue this path. By staying the course, I hope to create change at a scale I once only hoped for.
