Describe how your professional and personal experiences have led you to pursue an MBA at this time. Share with us your short and long term goals and why the Texas MBA at McCombs is the program best positioned to help you achieve them.

Applying to business school is the next step toward my goal of following my instinct when it comes to my education and career.

As a college freshman, I should have listened to my inner voice when deciding upon a career, but instead I was roused by the lavish Wall Street lifestyle. Other members of Notre Dame’s Varsity football team were pursuing that path, so I convinced myself I wanted to be an almighty trader, too. How could I not want to be a trader? Trading is competitive, risky, and invigorating—just like football. However, I also enjoyed football because it gave me a chance to be a leader and a teammate.

I take pride in working with and mentoring people, having been a quarterback since the age of 8 and a team captain my senior year of high school. My gut told me I should seek a career that would encompass everything I enjoyed about being a quarterback. I could see myself running a business development team at a large firm, but I ignored this vision and chose the “glamorous” route. I secured investment-banking summer internships, declared finance as my concentration, and took classes such as Fixed Income Investments and Financial Derivatives. In short, I spent four years at one of the best business schools in the country going through the motions.

Senior year, I interviewed for sales and trading roles at several bulge bracket firms. One of my interviewers at XYZ ended up being the person I would work with on the mortgage-trading desk. I left that interview with more concerns than positive reactions. My inner voice questioned this man and what he represented. Was this the kind of environment I wanted to be a part of? The fog that hung over me through college convinced me it was. I took the job at Lehman Brothers and hoped the trader who hired me would become my mentor and teach me the business. As the weeks passed, I forced myself to believe that being cursed at in front of colleagues and working late into the night developing ideas that I knew would fall upon deaf ears was something I enjoyed.

I was let go from XYZ during the 2008 financial crisis. I called my dad to inform him. He replied, “I’m sorry to hear that. But you can’t move home, and I would support you joining the military.” Getting laid off was the rude awakening I needed. I was able to take my first step toward following my instinct on my career path and chose a role at ABC that incorporated the things I enjoyed about being an athlete and leader.

At McCombs, I am looking forward to rediscovering the quarterback inside me. My dad is in the steel industry, and has created a very successful small business over the last twenty-five years. He has been an inspiration to me, and ten years from now I would like to take over his business. It was this goal of working in management within a commodities-related industry that led me to apply to McCombs. Thanks to countless “state of the business” discussions with my father, I believe the United States is at the forefront of a new industrial revolution. An MBA from McCombs will help me gain the global experience necessary to build a career around this exciting opportunity.

Following graduation, I hope to join the Corporate Strategy group at Rio Tinto, a world leader in mineral mining and processing. I would like to be part of their Graduate Development Program, potentially beginning my career in southern Africa or South America—areas rich in mineral production yet to be tapped. McCombs will help develop my understanding in two areas I lack exposure: management and energy finance. My intentions are to have dual concentrations in Innovation Leadership within the Management department, as well as Energy Finance within the Finance department. This education will be the vital piece I need to complement my finance background and set the stage for my career transition.