Student Perspectives

Student Perspective

Vanessa Danziger

Vanessa Danziger

MBA 19

Product Marketing Manager
Workday

Building on nonprofit experience with business skills

I'm intrigued by the idea of bettering the world through business. In today’s world there are many opportunities to cultivate profits with a purpose, and here at Haas I am exploring professional opportunities to do just that. Getting an MBA will empower me with the business skills, professional network, and industry knowledge to be an influential and successful leader with an impactful career.

Student involvement drives MBA culture

At Haas, students are encouraged and empowered to shape our own experience, be it in the classroom, in a career search, or in student culture. Students are given agency to influence change. In this way, I have seen the defining principle of “Question the Status Quo” come to life, particularly through the student-led Gender Equity Initiative (GEI) and Race Inclusion Initiative (RII). These committees, as well as all on-campus clubs, are completely managed by students and act as internal consulting bodies to the administration. I am grateful to be at an institution where the students are driven to work towards change and the administration is supportive and welcoming of this leadership.

Valuable lessons from diverse classmates

My peers are the most impactful part of my Haas experience. It is incredibly valuable to share how our different professional experiences apply to what we are learning. Each of us has seen class lessons play out in our diverse work experiences. This is the most unique opportunity of being in business school – that we can each bring years of experience in different fields, different countries, and different roles to the business lessons we are learning.

In my Economics class, for example, I had a colleague who was selling his product online, and it was fascinating to learn how he was thinking about his pricepoint. It also gave me the knowledge to reflect on how my previous company marketed itself in the education world.

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