The Consortium community. That’s what made the difference for one future member of our community. Ije Obiorah (pictured above) explains how a connection we facilitated with a Consortium alumna made the difference between choosing one of our member schools—the University of Wisconsin-Madison—and a non-Consortium program.
The Consortium network was one of the distinguishing reasons why I chose to go to the University of Wisconsin versus a non-Consortium university. So, thank you for bridging that conversation. I’m going to New York City at the end of the month and Consortium alumna Adeola Emdin (Wisconsin ’08) and I are going to try and meet up then! I’m very excited about everything that’s ahead.
I spent months working on my MBA applications, so I was elated when I was accepted into more than one program. I knew I had to be very deliberate in my decision-making, since the next two years would be transformational for my professional career. Staying true to my natural tendencies, I did my due diligence and developed an extensive spreadsheet and scorecard to weigh the benefits of each program.
Days and weeks passed and I was still genuinely conflicted. The one gap that remained was in my understanding of what type of impact the Consortium community could actually have (Editor’s Note: See our related video: “Consortium is Family“).
That’s Where Adeola Emdin Came In
Adeola Emdin, 2008 Wisconsin graduate and dedicated member of the Consortium community.
I reached out to The Consortium about an alumna I had read about on The Consortium’s website (that was Adeola Emdin). You responded within 15 minutes and created that connection between me and this distinguished person who was in my desired field and who attended my school of interest.
Not only did I eventually have an insightful conversation with Adeola, but she’s already connected me with people in her network and even given me tips on where to get good Caribbean food in Madison, Wis.! That connection is not something I could have attained through LinkedIn, but the Consortium provided that while I was still a prospect.
But Wait! That’s Not All!
I had also reached out to a current student from a different Consortium school than the one I was considering. That student responded within 10 minutes while he was in China for an MBA project! Why? Because The Consortium was the common thread.
These two examples showed me a glimpse of what it means to be part of the Consortium community. It’s real, it’s responsive and it’s reliable. My decision to attend a Consortium-member university became crystal clear, and the experience I described above was the trump card that beat out the non-Consortium program.
I’m excited to be a Badger and to be a Consortium fellow. And I fully intend to pay it forward as it has been done for me.
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