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Rachael Wang (EMBA ’07) grew up in China and came to the United States in 1991 to pursue an undergraduate degree in computer science. After graduating from the University of Central Oklahoma, she went to work as a software programmer in Plano, Texas.
For Wang, coming to the United States for school meant gaining opportunities not available in China at the time. For Wang, confidence is the key ingredient to success for international students. And she advises other international students not to hold back in going after their dreams.
“Many international students consider language a big barrier to their success in this country,” she said. “My opinion is that your accent does not hold you back, but lack of confidence does.”
She decided to attend the Cox Executive MBA (EMBA) program based on its reputation, rankings and recommendations by colleagues who were already involved in the program.
Wang says that the Cox EMBA program offers students the business framework and tools to solve real-life business problems. Wang, in turn, has applied the techniques she’s learned in the program to enhance her position in sales management at Oracle.
“Now I can better anticipate changes and lead the team through these changes in an organized and smooth manner,” she said.
While at Cox, Wang especially enjoyed Professor Jeff Allen’s finance classes, which have provided vital knowledge about how to evaluate projects and make critical business decisions.
“This helped me to understand, from a client’s point of view, what financial criteria they look for when evaluating IT projects,” she said.
There are many talented people in the IT industry who may want to change careers, Wang says, and SMU Cox provides a great forum to do just that.
“Many EMBA students with technical backgrounds would like to switch their careers to a more business-oriented path,” said Wang. “The Cox network provides students with a wealth of career opportunities by establishing new business contacts and enhancing professional relationships.”
Wang said that she was involved in the Associate Board executive mentoring program and that her mentor was instrumental to her during this career change. The assistance that Cox provides for its students helped Wang to feel confident in the new business-oriented path she took.
Having graduated in 2007, Wang says that the Cox EMBA experience helped enhance her career and her future. “The program has helped me to think more strategically and has given me greater insights about companies’ business challenges,” she said.
Currently, her aspirations are to merge her business and bilingual abilities to assist companies setting up business and operations in Asia.
“In the high-tech industry, the most important thing is to keep up with the current industry knowledge through constant learning,” said Wang. Her Cox EMBA will help her do just that.
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