4.*: an MBA Student Perspective

4 STAR* refer to students who get many 4.0 GPA’s. I always wonder what’s on the mind of these amazing students, what moves them, and of course some study tips from them will be nice. So I want to make some interview with them. Next is Mr. Jefery Kusnadi, my best friend and a writer for this blog (we don’t make this up, honest).

Jefery Kusnadi is attended UCLA for his undergraduate where he graduated with highest honor in Applied Mathematics/Phyics. He is now attending California State University Long Beach to earn his Master in Business Administration (M.B.A). By now (1/15/2009), he receives 4.0 G.P.A during his first year MBA having taken an average of 6 courses per semester. He is a recipient of a Phoenix scholarship (USD 4000) this year and also he is currently representing CSULB MBA team to compete in the International Business Strategy Competition in San Diego on April 2009.

Me: Please tell us a little more about yourself Jefery

JK: As an international student from Indonesia, I grew up and attended schools up to senior High School in Indonesia. As a kid I was never like studying, in fact the only 2 subjects that I “studied” are mathematics and physics; I spent most of my time in the field playing basketball. Basketball was my life and my childhood dream was to get into UCLA and played on their basketball team. Well, only part of this comes true, which is getting into UCLA part, but the other one goes unfulfilled.

Me: What do you found so different between the system here and Indonesia?

JK: In Indonesia, you learn how to look at a subject from the textbook and to take lots of exams. During my times, there were shortages of qualified teachers. In fact, even in the physical education, my teacher was trying to teach us play basketball, but turns out he called me to teach “practical” basketball in the field instead; however I travelled back to Indonesia one and half year ago, the education system is much better now. In America, one thing I notice is that you need to “learn by doing” meaning that the instructor/ professors often challenge us to think “outside the box” not only based on the textbook; therefore, the learning process comes not from the exams, but by actually “working” in the projects.

Me: From your scholarship and GPA, I think you’ve done it really well so far. What do you think is the key of your success?

JK: Thank you, but I would not consider myself as being successful yet. But if there’s anything to share, I would advise “Don’t worry making a mistake. Be persistent in pursuing your goal.” Most of the time, I learned a lesson the hard way (making lots of mistakes). Some people are afraid of failure and making a mistake, but this is part of the learning process and success in life.  Other thing is that “Try to do more than you have done today.” If you always do more, then you will make an efficient use of your time. I always study more than my instructor assigned me to do, for example: in my international business class, we were assigned to state the challenges of doing business internationally; I was not only searching on the possible challenges, but also go ahead and apply my findings into a specific country, Indonesia, and find out whether foreign companies doing business in Indonesia are actually facing these challenges.

Me: It is easier said than done though, how do you manage your time?

JK: Right now, I am in the middle of these activities: doing research in Marketing “What role does Second Life, Facebook, MySpace and other social media play in building a company’s brand”, preparing for the international business competition, and also starting up a company. I mean it’s a tough thing to do all at once; however, somehow by cutting most of my leisure times and allocate these times for work, I can still manage to make progress in all these activities.

Me:  Tell me more about the International Business Competition that you are involved currently? How proud are you having to represent your school in this event?

JK: Well, to tell you the truth, I am nervous about this competition. Last year, our school won the second place in the competition. The competition is a simulation game competition, in which more than 40 business schools from the United States, Canada, China, Japan, Europe, Saudi Arabia, India and other countries are participating. Each time is assigned to manage a company that operates in both United States and one of the foreign operations (Asia, Latin America, or Eastern Europe). The winning criteria is judged based on the quarterly managerial decisions and how profitably the company is at the end of the game.

Me: Is there any study tips you’d like to share to other students, in particular since you have studied both science and business?

JK: When you work on homework, try to do it yourself first, before you look up other student’s answer for comparison. Go to office hours and ask lots of questions for clarification when you have done reading textbooks and lecture notes; you never know if you missed any concept unless you ask questions to your professors, TA’s and classmates. Try to get together for group study after you do your individual study; this works very well for me since group study requires us teaching each other in the group and the best way to test whether you know the material is by teaching others.

Me: Now, what advise would you give to students interested in getting their MBA?

JK: Ask yourself, “What Good an MBA will do for you?” If you can not answer this question, then I would suggest that after finishing your undergraduate, go find a job to work in any field you’re interested in, doesn’t have to be related to business. In fact, almost 45% of my classmates in MBA, like me, do not have any business background at all. In an MBA, you will find most of the teachings are more relevant when you have some sort of full time work experiences; this way you can better relate the business lessons to what you have done or are currently doing. Also, an MBA is not a guarantee for success; after all, Bill Gates of Microsoft, Richard Branson of Virgin, Sergey Brin and Larry Page of Google, and many successful entrepreneurs do not have an MBA degree. So before you commit yourself into expensive tuition, you better know what you can get out of an MBA education.

Me: Just out of curiosity, do you have a girlfriend?

JK: haha.. (he chuckles) I am actually in a relationship with a girl, whom I met at UCLA. We have been dating almost 2 year now. She gives me lots of motivation and comforts when times get tough.

Me:Thanks for you time to share with us Jefery.

JK: “You’re welcome. I am glad to be able to share my experience to others.”

That is all everyone, a glimpse of Jefery Kusnadi, our second 4.*, a very hard working students with many achievements but yet he keeps a low profile.

I hope you like the tips and I hope his stories inspire you. What did you guys think? Which part of the interview ‘touched’ you? Is there some questions that are unanswered? Ask me, I’ll ask Jefery when I met his again later. There is no login required to leave a comment

Written by ClickNSmart Team