As I approach the midpoint, the most surprising part of the Executive MBA (EMBA) journey is the incredible network of people I have gotten to connect with in classes, beyond our cohort. Due to the program’s structure, we share many classes with an online cohort well into their EMBA journey, a few with the on-campus group that started with us, and now a second online cohort fresh in their first term. It has been very cool to see each group’s distinguished personality, even between my online cohort and the in-person cohort that started together.
Working alongside the first online group created a very unexpected mentor dynamic.
I created relationships with some of my classmates and started to understand just how much knowledge they have gained in a few months beyond where we were, how they viewed problems differently, and that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. That group represented how much more we have to learn and where we will end up.
We now have been joined by the online cohort that started a semester after us. They are another brilliant group of people, each bringing their own viewpoint into our learning process. Just like we saw how much more the group before us learned and the opportunities ahead, it has been equally great to be with a newer cohort to appreciate how far we have come from the beginning of this EMBA journey. Just as people in the previous cohort became a guide for us, I look forward to being able to support this group in the adjustment into the EMBA lifestyle.
No matter where someone falls in the combined cohorts, it creates a special bond between all classmates. We have conquered something challenging and unique, together. That experience creates an authentic connection, and I am grateful for the opportunity to develop a network with these relationships.
Written by, Alex Sunseri
