Kellogg Chronicles: Connection and growth post-MBA

This content was originally published in Poets&Quants.

For MBA students, the journey through business school isn’t just about academics and career prospects—it’s about the lifelong connections and personal growth that shape your future. My experiences since graduating from the Kellogg School of Management in 2019 illustrate how this transformative period continues to impact my life in unexpected and meaningful ways. Whether you’re considering an MBA to advance your career, expand your network or embark on a new adventure, the value of these connections with your peers cannot be overstated.

In the summer of 2019, I moved down to Chicago’s Bucktown neighborhood with Ginny, my best friend from Kellogg. We had met on the first night of KWEST and were inseparable from day one. Starting our lives together in Chicago felt effortless. Despite having few friends in Chicago before Kellogg, I found myself with no shortage of Kellogg friends to explore the city with – both from my class year and the second-years. 

We did everything from going to a pop-up go-kart race on Goose Island to kayaking the Chicago River and exploring every restaurant we could find. In fact, in true Kellogg fashion, we created a Google doc for people to add any fun restaurant reservations and how many people they needed to fill it. This way, friends were able to sign up to join a group for a reservation at a hot new restaurant, and it served as a great way to remain connected to the classmates you may not see as often. 

I was lucky to be able to spend the summer after graduation traveling the world with Kellogg friends. Ginny and I hiked Machu Picchu and ran into a Kellogg friend in Cusco, Peru. What a small world! The next month, I went with two classmates to Vietnam, Japan and Korea, but the highlight was getting to see three different Kellogg friends who had recently moved to Seoul to work for Samsung.

We ate a life-changing Korean BBQ with a friend from marketing classes, had coffee in Gangnam with one of our KWESTies interning in Seoul and went to a Korean major league baseball game with a different KWEST mate. I will always be grateful that a love for travel and being pushed out of your comfort zone is ingrained on the onset at Kellogg. 

One of my favorite early memories after graduation was when my roommate and I hosted a Super Bowl party. It was a potluck, so people brought different food and drinks. Since I worked in brand management for Tyson at the time, I brought Tyson buffalo and BBQ strips for everyone to sample. Always on brand, my fellow marketing friends all showed up with their products as well: Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy, Gatorade and an Away suitcase (for the traveling consultant). A spirited discussion about all the Super Bowl ads followed with everyone telling tales of previous Super Bowl ads from their companies. 

Navigating alumni connections during COVID

And then March 2020 came. When the world was first beginning to shut down, I was rushing home from celebrating my KWEST leader’s wedding in Puerto Rico. Despite being isolated from everyone except Ginny, we never once felt alone because of the connections we had with our Kellogg family. We spent our evenings playing virtual Code Names or joining someone’s “House Party” to catch up with Kellogg friends. We even had friends that used lockdown as a time to share their talents with others. I attended classes in make-up, cocktails, cooking and (most impactfully) a beginner’s watercolor painting workshop, organized by Sanjana, a former classmate. 

I knew Sanjana from our 12-person Personal Leadership Insights class and learned about her class through Instagram. I rushed to order supplies from Amazon; I was so excited to learn a new skill and see if I could harness the artistic ability of my artistic grandmother. I truly caught the bug during that class and have been water-coloring ever since – even hosting a class for coworkers about a year later. I have the Kellogg network to thank for my most cherished hobby that helps me de-stress and bring joy to others through my hand-painted cards and gifts. 

Read the original article in its entirety on Poets&Quants to learn more about AG’s professional support network and how she connected with peers during the Kellogg Reunion weekend.