What struck me about ISM’s MBA, as opposed to my BBA program, was its emphasis on professional rather than academic thinking. I wanted to know professionals in the field of export/import and get experience there. I enrolled and it was really like a dream—I got the tools I was looking for. Of course I needed to work hard, but the professors awakened in me a thirst for knowledge, they prepared me for work in ways I hadn’t expected. I felt like they refined me and got me ready for the world. The MBA itself made my present job possible, and it’s a real personal accomplishment. I was working and studying at the same time—looking back I don’t know how I did it—but I’m sure that someone who doesn’t need to work could do even better.