William & Mary Mason Military Webinar

0:00:05.2 Andrew Guevara: All right. I know people are still logging in, so I'll just start with the basics, introducing and saying thank you all so much for joining us this afternoon. I am very, very excited for today's presentation. A great opportunity to learn from JD, the Center for Military Transition, along with students who've been through the online programs and their experiences as military students at William & Mary. So I cannot wait. So let's get started. First, I want to at least introduce myself and my colleagues, Jeffrey, Jackie, and Sarah. I know both Jeffrey and Jackie are here today. We are the admissions outreach advisors. Chances are you've heard from at least one of us. We reach out by phone, email, or text just to check in, introduce ourselves, answer any questions, and help you as best we can. We can also help you during the application process. Once you submit the application, it goes over to the admissions enrollment management team. Speaking of which, we have Matt here today from that team. Matt, could you introduce yourself and your role?

0:01:14.9 Matt Johnson: Yeah, absolutely. Thank you, Andrew. My name is Matt Johnston, and I am the Associate Director of Admissions and Recruitment at the Raymond A. Mason School of Business at William & Mary. I am a 15-year veteran of admissions and enrollment and handled various capacities at other institutions. Just started here about a month ago and excited to be a part of the team and look forward to meeting each and every one of you as you make your way through the admissions process. So with that, Andrew, I'll hand it right back to you.

0:01:46.1 Andrew Guevara: Yeah, and we're so happy to have you, Matt, on the team. You've been a huge help in a short amount of time. So thank you for everything. Next, I will turn it over to JD to introduce himself and his role and the department he runs. JD.

0:01:58.8 JD Due: Good afternoon, everyone on the East Coast. Good morning to the rest of at least the continental US, and I guess good evening for elsewhere. But thank you, Andrew, for that opportunity to introduce myself. My name is JD. I'm the inaugural Executive Director of William & Mary's Mason School's Center for Military Transition. I'm also a 20-year Army veteran, and then after that 20-year career, I found a career in the veteran-serving nonprofit space for a number of years before having the absolute honor and pleasure to join this team here at the Mason School that has the sole, sole purpose really to serve you potentially. Right? From the time that someone's an applicant until they're an alumni, again, my role is to really empower our student veterans and connect them with meaningful, enriching opportunities as well as meaningful career opportunities. So a pleasure to be able to learn more as a part of this and participate in it as well.

0:02:53.2 Andrew Guevara: Yeah, thank you for being here too, JD. You're such a huge help to so many people out there, and I can't wait to learn more from you later on in the presentation. But a couple of things first. I just want to go over the agenda for today, so just a couple of housekeeping items. So one, you should notice the Q&A feature on your Zoom screen. So please, throughout the presentation, put your questions into that Q&A feature. Towards the end, we will answer your questions live. So start loading them up now in the Q&A, and we'll get to them at the very end. As for the chat feature, we like to keep that clean. We like to send links and other updates in that chat feature. So that's why please save your questions for, again, the Q&A feature. Those are the only other housekeeping items I have in mind. So before we jump into the Q&A and JD's introduction, I want to talk about William & Mary because there's so much to highlight. It's tough to pack it all on one screen, but I'll do the best I can. Let's start with the fact that it's the second oldest school in the nation, founded in 1693.

0:03:57.5 Andrew Guevara: It goes so far back that three of the first US presidents, Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, and John Tyler, all attended William & Mary. Since then, there have been great alumni such as Raymond A. Mason himself, founder of an investment firm Legg Mason, and Alan B. Miller, founder of Universal Health Services. As for rankings, faculty at the School of Business are ranked number five in the nation per the Princeton Review. And Poets&Quants has the MBA ranked number eight in career outcomes, and Bloomberg has William & Mary ranked number one for learning and number nine for networking. So very proud of the rankings, very proud of the history, the fact that William & Mary is considered a public Ivy League institution. And you'll learn more why in a moment once you hear from these students who've gone through this program and the experience they had with JD and the curriculum itself. Now, there are five online graduate degrees offered by the School of Business. The first one is the MBA, which is the most well-rounded of all the offerings. It has a well-rounded curriculum designed to develop leaders for all types of industries. Then we have the MS in Marketing, which offers more of a creative approach to business.

0:05:07.5 Andrew Guevara: Then we have the MS in Finance, which teaches you a well-rounded approach to the world of finance, including investments, corporate finance, real estate finance, and investments. All that and more packed into the MS in Finance. Whether you want the CFA or work towards becoming a CFO or other, there's a lot you can do with an MS in Finance. Same with the MSBA. That offers more of a technical approach to business. Whether you work in healthcare, education, tech, you name it, every industry wants to know what their clients and consumers are thinking. Data is beautiful, data is powerful, and that's what that program can help you with. Then we have the Master of Accounting. Whether you want to earn your CPA or just learn more about accounting itself, the Master of Accounting is incredibly beneficial.

0:05:57.3 Andrew Guevara: All five programs are very hands-on. The faculty want you to apply the material in a real-world business setting. The faculty aren't here to waste your time. They want you to apply the material in, again, a real-world business setting. So all five are very interactive, project-based, great opportunity to learn more about their respective fields. But there are also certificate options. There are three online graduate certificates. You could start and end with that certificate or transfer into the respective degree. So for example, with the Foundations in Business Analytics certificate, all three classes from that cert will transfer directly into the MSBA. Same goes for those two finance certs. All four classes from those certificates will transfer directly into the MS in Finance.

0:06:49.6 Andrew Guevara: If you want more information on that or any of the graduate programs, reach out to your admissions outreach advisor. Then I want to quickly touch on the online experience because the majority of you here today watching are either active duty, veteran, military spouse, or other. So you are all very busy people. As our student panelists may share later, sometimes you get deployed, sometimes you have an unpredictable schedule, and that's why you need a flexible online program. And that's what William & Mary offers you here with these online programs. They are all asynchronous, which means lectures are available to review at your own convenience. It is self-paced, so you have throughout the week to work on your assignments. And so the goal truly was to accommodate busy, full-time working professionals. William & Mary is also Yellow Ribbon, it's a military-friendly school, so the faculty are accommodating. Other departments, such as JD for the Center for Military Transition and others, are also flexible and accommodating of your schedule. And so if you ever have to adjust your schedule, take a class off or whatever, there is support in place for you. But the material itself, the curriculum, again, was designed to be flexible.

0:08:07.4 Andrew Guevara: You have access to Canvas, which is similar to Blackboard. On Canvas, you can access your lectures, your assignments, your reading materials, all that through Canvas on your phone, your laptop, your computer anywhere in the country, anywhere in the world. I know JD kind of hinted at some of you today may be across the globe in a military base. Well, hey, no matter where you are, time zones don't matter because it's all asynchronous learning. It's all recorded lectures. And so there are many opportunities to connect and succeed in this program. But again, the student panelists will touch more on that later today. But now, enough of me. I will turn over to JD to tell more about his department. JD?

0:08:51.3 JD Due: Sure thing. Thanks, Andrew. As Andrew mentioned, yes, we are a Yellow Ribbon school, and yes, we're consistently named not only in terms of one of the institutions that's best for vets as well as military-friendly, but I really look at the work that... Again, I have the honor and privilege to do with the Center for Military Transition is to move beyond military-friendly. My center exists to be able to empower, empower you, again, primarily through connections, sometimes through co-curricular or extracurricular different sorts of opportunities that I'm able to share. But it's really to empower you to augment a world-class education that then allows you to really think, think like an executive. Andrew, we can go to the next slide because this next slide really sort of captures our approach, right? Whether you are active duty, a veteran, or a military spouse, by means of your own choices and your own lived experience, you bring actually a really, really rich experience and set of perspectives and set of talents to whatever chapter of service you want to do next. And our assumption is if you take that unique experience, you add to it world-class education, right? Particularly delivered in a flexible, asynchronous way, and then add on top of those two things meaningful connections, I am convinced that that is then the recipe not just for career success, but actually to be able to flourish in all aspects of your life, right?

0:09:37.1 JD Due: And we use Flourish, it's an important component of all that we do. It's a William & Mary value. And it's also... Candidly, it's one of those words that's probably used too much. But for us, what it really, really means is what conditions, what skills, what practices can the Center for Military Transition provide you to really find an opportunity where you can operate at your most productive, at your most fulfilled, and your most resilient, even though that chapter of service might be transitioning from a service that's in uniform to a new chapter of service that's going to come outside of uniform. And really what I get to do is some of these smaller circles underneath that world-class education, and I get to add to that. And it can be very, very personalized, right? Each of the students that we're about to hear from and the recent graduate that we're about to hear from, they have reached out to me directly. And if I don't have the answer, that's where those meaningful connections come in because I can provide some different insights within the William & Mary tribe community, within the veteran William & Mary tribe community, as well as within the veteran talent acquisition community that exists out there as well.

0:11:24.2 JD Due: It's not a full choose-your-own-adventure, but it's pretty darn close to that, right? Because it starts with a lot of different exercises and experiences that we can put together for you that allow you the introspection to align your values with your goals, with corporate values and corporate goals. You use that introspection to actually then drive some things of connection, right? Of different networking approaches. And the combination of looking inward as well as forming new professional relationships, that is actually the best preparation that you're going to need before you propel yourself in an empowered sense down a new career trajectory.

0:12:02.9 JD Due: So that's what I'm here to do. I'm more than happy to answer any questions at any point in time. And I am absolutely candid when I say that the services that our center can provide, it starts from the time that you're an applicant, and it continues for all time coming, even in terms of your aspect of alumni. And that's an important component. The job market out there is bananas right now, right? In December, the Wall Street Journal had an article how 22% of Harvard Business School graduates didn't have employment within three months of their graduating. Harvard, yes, we know it's famous. I don't think it's the best business school, but it's good, it's good. And if that's the case and that's the fact, it's some components of these meaningful connections that actually can sort of mitigate and ameliorate some of those challenges that are out there. Just yesterday, I read an article that said a third of all workers are planning to switch roles probably within the next six months in America, right?

0:13:00.7 JD Due: So again, we are designed to be very customized, be very personalized to you, to look at the timing of those choices, to empower you along those choices, and again, to provide some of these meaningful connections to have a through line from your military experience that connects your educational experience and that next chapter that comes next. Again, I'm so happy to go to the next portion, and I can't wait to hear from some of the folks I've had the absolute privilege to work with and learn from as well here in our next piece. Again, Andrew, thanks for letting me give a little bit of that synopsis and update.

0:13:30.5 Andrew Guevara: Yeah, well, thank you, JD. I love everything you said because, yeah, grad school is not just about learning new skills, whether it's the MBA or whatever. It's all about who you meet, who you connect with, who you network with. And JD is spot on about the impact William & Mary can have, the support in place to guide and help you network and advance your career. So like JD mentioned as well too, we have our wonderful student panelists today. We have four great panelists here in front of us. I'll go one at a time. Nick, we'll start with you. Can you start by introducing yourself? What program were you in, what you're currently doing, and anything else you want to share about yourself?

0:14:05.1 Nick Bowlin: Good morning, everybody. My name is Nick Bowlin. I am currently active duty. I have been in the Navy for 19 and a half years. I'm retiring in August. I was a member of the online MBA program, and I just graduated last spring.

0:14:20.3 Andrew Guevara: Well, congratulations on your recent graduation. And Kwesi, what about you? Can you share a bit about yourself?

0:14:27.7 Kwesi Campbell: Hey everybody, my name is Kwesi Campbell. I was part of the MBA program along with Nick, and I'm currently a senior consultant with Deloitte. So I partner with senior executives on both the government side and on the commercial side to drive enterprise risk management as well as strategy. So it's a crazy world out here and looking forward to discussing with everybody about how we get after it and what the value these programs bring.

0:14:56.4 Andrew Guevara: Absolutely. Thank you so much. And Jenny, can you share more about yourself?

0:15:00.8 Jennifer Karnosky: Yeah, absolutely. I'm Jennifer Karnosky. I did both the foundations and business analytics certificate as well as the online MSBA program, graduated in 2023, and took those skills that I learned along with that networking piece that JD talked so much about and changed the trajectory of my career. And I'm applying those directly in what I do now as a sales and marketing tactical analyst, working with market conditions and incentives and lots and lots of data. So I was in the Air Force for around eight years, did that both active duty and as a guard component as a flight attendant, and am currently an active duty Army spouse. As I went through the program, I was doing it using the GI Bill benefits from my spouse. So I have a little bit of insight on the component of not actually being the member but being military affiliated if you have any questions in that realm. And thank you for having me here to talk today.

0:16:00.9 Andrew Guevara: Yeah, and you mentioned something I want to point out. Try to put Jeffrey and Jack in the spot. Could one of you post the contact for Carolyn Ward? Speaking of the GI Bill that Jenny mentioned, Carolyn Ward is the primary contact for graduate students wanting to use the GI Bill. So if you have any questions about that VA benefit or any VA benefits, reach out to Carolyn, she is a great resource. Sorry, Terrence. And then next, can you share a bit about yourself, Terrence?

0:16:27.1 Terrence Mack: Sure. I'm still a student in the MBA program. I graduate in May, but I took a different track with my life and my career. I started my government contracting career while I was a student at William & Mary's MBA program. At the beginning, I started off at Newport News Shipbuilding when the program began. Then I went to work for IT International at a SCIF in Arlington, Virginia. After that, I went to work for the FBI for Guidehouse as a consultant, and now I'm a strategy advisor for SAIC for our government client here. So I took the program's flexibility and ability to achieve the same skills and use your real-life opportunities to advance my career while I was still a student.

0:17:15.1 Andrew Guevara: Awesome. Well, fantastic to have you here, and thank you all so much for your service to this great nation. I can't wait to learn more. So let's jump right into the Q&A. Nick, we'll start with you again. Can you tell us more about your time in the military? I know you're retiring soon from the military, but what was your time in the military like, and how did you balance active duty with your time in the MBA?

0:17:36.9 Nick Bowlin: Yeah, sure. So I enlisted in the Navy right out of high school, and I am rated as a fire control in the Navy. So I work on weapon systems, fire control networks, computer systems, and whatnot. The program for me, I was really impressed with the fact that it was so flexible, as you had alluded to. The last three years, I have been on shore duty. However, it's not the typical shore duty. We still go out, and I am now, in my current role, a weapons material inspector. So I go out to ships. We get underway for two or three days at a time. I assess them, and these ships are most of the time here in Norfolk. However, I do frequently travel to Florida, to California, to Poland, Romania, Bahrain, Spain. So my job takes me all over the place, and I probably travel about two to three times per month out of the area. And being able to still work on the program and interact with my class and having support from the instructors was probably a key to my success. And one of the things that I really liked about the program the most was that all of the content is asynchronous.

0:18:50.3 Nick Bowlin: There are synchronous components that are optional. So you still have the ability to interact with your classmates. You still have the ability to sit in on lectures. However, there is always an alternate activity. It's not required. So it gives you that flexibility there. And while these last two years, I've really been able to apply a lot of what I've learned throughout the program in my current role, specifically from the data analytics course and the accounting course. I've even used a lot of that in my own nonprofit that I am part of. So the value doesn't always... It's not coming necessarily when you graduate, you get it immediately as you go through the program. So that was my experience so far.

0:19:34.4 Andrew Guevara: Thank you. Yeah. And there's so many follow-ups I want to share. I love the fact that you mentioned both the analytics course and accounting course were beneficial. And that's, again, part of the beauty of the MBA is that it does offer that well-rounded curriculum because you never know when you may need to use it, especially as a leader in any industry. You may have to put on your marketing hat, your analytics hat, or whatever to help your team and then the organization. So thank you, Nick. And Jenny, you made a comment earlier during the introductions. You mentioned serving for about eight years and in the Guard, and then you mentioned using analytics yourself in your career. So can you tell us more about that and your military experience as well?

0:20:11.9 Jennifer Karnosky: Yeah, absolutely. So I enlisted right out of high school, similar to Nick. I was a military brat, so my dad was in the Air Force. And I knew that I wanted to serve my country and I knew it was going to be an opportunity to travel and sort of transition from having your parents do everything for you but still have some discipline and structure moving forward. I appreciated the problem-solving skills, leadership skills, and public speaking skills that I gained while I was in the military. My personal experience was that I got out of the military, my husband stayed active duty. So I still had that every two years moving, that cycle, and then learning how to balance my family life with my own professional career, knowing that I wasn't going to have the stability. This was sort of prior to everybody transitioning into what is a remote acceptable sort of workspace. So it was either I was going to be on the path of I'm just going to continue to be a stay-at-home parent because it's too hard to move around all the time, or I can take the risk, ignore the imposter syndrome voice that was happening on my shoulder, apply to this program and see what happens.

0:21:27.7 Jennifer Karnosky: And it just happened to turn out that it was definitely life-changing for me. Doing this, gaining the confidence, gaining the skills, and also the way that they curate the education and what you're exposed to, it's all cutting-edge. It's all what's happening new in tech. It prepares you in a way that I think maybe other online programs fall short. That in combination with participating in networking events, getting to know JD, taking advantage of the resources that are available, are exactly... Using that networking got me into my job now. I would not have had the resume, the clout, or the advocates without the connections that I got through resources that JD provided. So what I got in the military was that structure, the leadership, program management, organizational skills. I got the technical expertise that I needed through William & Mary. And then it's that other plus sign that JD showed, that infographic was actually perfect. It was the network that propelled me to that next level of being successful. So maybe that's not exactly why I joined. I joined because it was either I choose not to be a professional or I get back on board and grow my skills. And so that's why I decided to transition from military, military-associated life to the civilian side and furthering my education.

0:22:55.7 Andrew Guevara: And so much to unpack there as well. I mean, that's why I'm so proud and thankful for the online graduate programs because it offers you the opportunity to advance your studies and open new doors and opportunities that you may not have from a campus program. Because like you said, you may move, relocate, whatever. And so at least your graduate studies will follow with you wherever you go. And I'm so happy to hear about your success and all the experiences you had and the networking with JD. That's another great point too as well. I mean, take advantage of these resources in front of you, whether it's JD, your professor, your fellow classmates, Shante Taylor from the Career Services team. There's so much out there for you to take advantage of. And if you reach out to them, they are more than willing to help you out because that's what they're here for. It's a team effort. Right? And so I'm glad you took advantage of those resources and happy to see how it benefited you. Kwesi, let's move over to you now. Kwesi, so what kind of skills have you used the most during your time in the military?

0:23:53.9 Kwesi Campbell: So I was an intelligence officer, and prior to that I was an infantry officer. So I guess there was that period of time where I had an epiphany where I was like, "Hey, I want to do something a little bit more technical." And so as an intelligence officer, I was special operations. I did the withdrawal of Afghanistan, Gaza, and Ukraine. So there was a lot of strategy, there was a lot of operations, there was a lot of critical thinking, time management, and a lot of those things transition very well to leadership out here in the civilian space, as well as in the MBA program when we're talking about the Renaissance leader, when we're talking about operations, when we're talking about strategy, even a little bit of marketing. All those different things, you kind of have this innate kind of sense of, "I can understand these disciplines," even though they're related to business, even though they're related to commercial. And so I used a lot of that during my time in the military, which really did help me. I leveraged in all those skills the military imparted into learning about the various disciplines that the MBA offered and then taking those and applying them out here into the consulting space.

0:25:02.4 Kwesi Campbell: Especially in the consulting space. If you want to do anything consultancy, William & Mary is where you want to be at because huge in the consulting space, huge network out here, very strong. And a little bit of that, the networking piece. Networking exists in the military, so don't lose sight of that. Bring that in, bring that out here to the civilian world, bring that out here into your MBA. Network, network, network, because that's what's driving value out here, that's what's getting people in positions to create value and to just get out here and flourish. So kind of out there outside of the skills, but yeah, some of those, the strategy, operations, critical thinking, a little bit of technology too. If you're an intel guy or gal, you do a lot of things with Palantir and various other programs that are actually very, very marketable here on the outside. So that's something that, you know, keep in mind. Don't discredit your military experience. Your military experience is very impactful and people are looking for it, trust me.

0:26:02.6 Andrew Guevara: 100%. A lot to unpack there too. I mean, please highlight all of your military experience on your resume, in your application if you were to apply, because it will help you stand out in a great way. I forgot to mention it earlier, my apologies, but during your time in the military, you do have a lot of leadership skill. I think it was, yeah, Jennifer who mentioned during your time in the military, you have a lot of leadership skills that you obtain, and now grad school can help you on the technical side. So you are spot on, Kwesi, highlight your background, use it to your advantage, it can help you on the civilian side. And happy to hear that consulting is such a big focus area at William & Mary. I know I've connected with many people who want to break into that field, and so I appreciate you sharing that and encouraging people and saying that, "Hey, William & Mary is a great networking opportunity for that career path or any career path." That's why you're right, take advantage of JD and other networking available to help you transition from active duty to civilian life. But Terrence, what about you? I know you're most recently in the MBA, so what are your career goals? What skills have you applied towards your career from the MBA?

0:27:09.8 Terrence Mack: Cool. Well, again, I appreciate other colleagues that I have on the panel today. I feel kind of like the odd man out because my career is very fluid in that I choose to hop from different government contracts to move forward in my career versus move up in any particular organization. I went into the military specifically to go into the intelligence community to get that top secret clearance and to get that experience to do what I'm doing now, and I've been successful at that. What I got from the military was organization, being accountable to people, being accountable to my superiors, and being able to delegate tasking, just doing the things that you normally would do at a job. What I got from the MBA program that's helping me now are those essential skills that you would use in contracting, whether it's knowing how to use the Microsoft suite well, Excel, PowerPoint skills, research skills, the things that I do every day to satisfy the client that I work for.

0:28:14.1 Andrew Guevara: Well, fantastic. I'm happy to hear you're already applying these different skills to your career as you move around. And thank you so much for sharing that, Terrence. And Nick, let's go back to you again because I'm curious, why did you choose William & Mary? I'm sure there are many schools out there for you to choose from, but what brought you to William & Mary? And I'm guessing you had to be online, right, because you're active duty, but why William & Mary in particular?

0:28:37.5 Nick Bowlin: Well, to tell you the truth, Andrew, I was actually highly against online education to begin with. I did a hybrid undergrad and the online portion of it, I did not enjoy that. I thought it was very impersonal, I thought it was low octane, and it didn't keep me engaged. So originally I was looking at William & Mary because I live here in the region and I was considering two schools. I was considering either ODU or William & Mary. William & Mary, I liked the fact that they had a flexible MBA program where you do it at night. So originally I was pursuing the night program. However, all these programs are accelerated, and the issue with an accelerated program and an unpredictable schedule is if you miss one class, it's like missing a week or possibly two weeks at a time. So I realized even though I am in the local area, with an unpredictable travel schedule for my job, it just wouldn't be attainable. So I had to go and look at that point solely at online. And after looking at William & Mary's online MBA, I noticed that they had a residency component of their program.

0:29:50.5 Nick Bowlin: And there's a lot of MBA programs out there that do not require in-person residency. Initially I thought, I was like, "Well, am I going to have to go there for a week or several weekends?" But it was one weekend, and it was probably the best weekend of that entire program. Just the connections that I made, the people that I met, actually meeting the faculty in person was something that was very impactful to me. And the topics that they have for residency are high octane. You are learning a lot, you're making connections. And for me, even though the requirement to go to residency, you only have to do one weekend, since I was here in the local area, I decided to go back. So I actually did more than one, and the faculty encourages that. They want you to be on the campus, they want you to interact however you can. Even if you are on the West Coast, if you can be on a webinar, any way that they can support you, be with you. And I think that was the differentiator for William & Mary. There was that connection right off the bat and that support network throughout the program and even afterwards. I think it's a testament that you have graduates here that are willing to give up their time to help promote the school because we obviously have an affinity, and it's a testament to the program that you have folks that want to do that.

0:31:21.6 Andrew Guevara: Yeah, absolutely. So much to unpack there. Sorry, real quick, before I forget, Jeffrey, sorry to put you on the spot. Can you send a link for the residency weekend that Nick mentioned? Because that's a great component of the program. Like Nick mentioned, the residency weekend is only required for the online MBA and MS in Marketing, but all other programs have the opportunity to join if they want to. And like Nick just mentioned, I highly recommend you do attend those residency weekends because they are incredibly beneficial. I also love the fact that you mentioned yes, there is a hybrid MBA option at William & Mary. Yes, campus can be tempting, but it also could be difficult with scheduling and so on. That's why the online MBA grants you that flexibility, that freedom to balance your own week and still opportunities to connect. Like Nick mentioned, whether it's through the residency weekend, through JD, or other, there are still so many opportunities to network. So thank you, Nick, for highlighting all of that. And soon in the chat, there will be a link for the weekend residency requirements. Terrence, I'm going to go back to you real quick because my apologies, unless I misheard you, I believe you mentioned you bounce around different career paths. And so can you tell me more about how William & Mary has prepared you for these different opportunities you pursue?

0:32:39.2 Terrence Mack: Yes. So yeah, I jumped from different government contracts that are available to me. Most of those contacts or those ability to do that, whether I was jumping from Newport News Shipbuilding to ITA or from ITA to Guidehouse, from Guidehouse to where I'm at now, those were all relationships that I developed while I was in the MBA program with other students at William & Mary or other people within the government organizations that I worked for that were familiar with William & Mary and knew of other opportunities that I could pursue. So the value I got out of these few years in the program, not just in my career success or accomplishments, was the network of other people and other students that I have gotten to know, that I've gotten to help get into those careers at those organizations I used to be a part of, and how I try to help people and other students get into SAIC now. The MBA program in business administration education, I think, is all about the friends you get to know and who you can create a network with. And that's the value of what I was taught here by not only JD but by the professors in the classes I took. Taking that time to really build and strengthen those relationships with people that you get to know in class and work with on projects is the best thing you can do to not only land career jobs you want, but to advance yourself in whatever industry you want to go into.

0:34:04.1 Andrew Guevara: Yeah, I think I sort of put you on the spot, but I do have a follow-up question. Could you tell more about how you connect with these classmates? I know in the past I've hosted numerous webinars, I've heard various ideas, but how did you personally reach out to your classmates and professors? Was it through Zoom, email? How did you interact?

0:34:19.3 Terrence Mack: It usually starts by email when you're working on a project, you get people's numbers. Online program, I didn't feel any... Outside of not being on campus, I didn't feel like I wasn't actively involved with my classmates. We texted each other, we called each other, we would meet for happy hours in the DMV for those that are here. And it was more just focused on the career of what we were doing, not just being on campus, which was what I was looking for. It's a natural connection because of the work that we're doing and the collaboration of the projects you'll do in the online MBA program.

0:35:01.8 Andrew Guevara: Thank you so much. I love how you said that you met for happy hour, you make phone calls with each other. It shows how personable this all is. It's not just looking at a computer screen and logging into Google Doc or whatever. No, there is so much interaction in a virtual environment and outside of it, whether it's in the DMV, Richmond area, Williamsburg area, wherever you are in the state or the country. It's so encouraging to hear people connecting in person and having those friendships and interactions. So thank you, Terrence, so much for highlighting that because I know I speak with a lot of prospective students that ask me, "Hey, Andrew, how do I even connect in an online environment? Will I have that personal connection?" And it's so encouraging to hear that you can have that even in a virtual program. So Terrence, it means a lot for you sharing that. Thank you so much. Kwesi, sort of to put you on the spot here, but I usually save the Q&A feature for the end, but someone is calling you out by name asking about if they can connect later. I don't know if you see that in the Q&A, but to put you on the spot real quick, Kwesi, going off that question from the Q&A feature, I know you said William & Mary helps you a lot in the consulting field. Can you expand more on that, on how William & Mary helped you in your career?

0:36:08.5 Kwesi Campbell: Sure. So consulting is pretty broad. So first off, the networking piece. So if you go onto LinkedIn, so I advise everybody here to be get active on LinkedIn, LinkedIn blew up when COVID started up again. I would say the William & Mary name just in general is one of power, is one of prestige. It's a brand, absolutely. But uniquely enough, a lot of people in the consultancy at the Big Four, Accenture, they regularly go to William & Mary to recruit a lot of different people. And so that instant connection, that kind of allowed me to have a lot of conversations with people in Deloitte. Now, as far as the competencies from the MBA, that's critical, at least for me and what I do. I can't necessarily name a lot of my clients, just certain things, but I partner with one of the chief risk officers and then in another client, I partner with the CEO. So that's strategy and then there's one enterprise risk management. Different competencies, but the MBA gave me the next level approach of how I need to be thinking about problems. Like the military...

0:37:18.7 Kwesi Campbell: We solve problems. I would say even if you decide that you don't want to do any of these things, you're a problem solver and you're a next level problem solver compared to just the average person. But the MBA allowed me to really put a lot of things in perspective. We're talking about finance, talking about accounting, looking at being able to talk about strategy from an academic standpoint, talking about market penetrations and market developments. You'll learn all those things, marketing. And so it really helped me to understand and be able to have a voice in the room to say, "Hey, you know what, I'm here. I know I was a veteran and I know that some of you have never served at all, but I have the competencies at the next level to serve here and provide value to you." And for us, it's when you come in and somebody, for consultancy, what people don't know is that whenever we go onto a project, you actually... We have internal resumes. So we give our resumes to a client and the client takes it and says, "Okay, this is the person, this is the consultant, and these are all the qualifications."

0:38:23.1 Kwesi Campbell: And when they see William & Mary, you want to be able to lead with that. Hey, these are all positive assumptions. Positive assumptions about this person right here. Got the MBA from William & Mary, and then a series of other stuff, and then everything else comes like, "Oh, he was an intelligence officer, must be smart," even though, whatever, but "must be smart." All these positive assumptions kind of flow from that William & Mary, for me, William & Mary MBA. And that really did take me into that consultancy field because it's tough. Consultancy is pretty cutthroat in some senses, so you want to be able to eliminate as many assumptions as possible and be able to say, "Hey, I come from somewhere reputable," and that those disciplines that you learned from William & Mary can be applied and applied with confidence. So that's kind of how that took me into the Deloitte space, and before that, Wells Fargo.

0:39:18.7 Andrew Guevara: Yeah, absolutely. It's so much to unpack, but for the sake of time, I guess my follow-up question to you is you made a comment earlier about how William & Mary, how different, I guess, Accenture and others have hired from William & Mary. So did you meet with them in person on campus, virtually, through JD? How did you come across these different employers and connections?

0:39:38.4 Kwesi Campbell: So I took a very proactive approach. I was in Charlotte and Atlanta, really, where I started meeting people that were in the consultancy space. But I looked for the William & Mary alumni. So there's a huge William & Mary pocket of alumni here in Atlanta and in Charlotte and as you kind of make your way up there. And I just wanted to have coffee chats with them. "Hey, how'd you join? X, Y, Z." And then when it came time for me to apply, I was able to leverage them as referrals and say, "Hey, I'm applying. I got an interview." And then they say, "Send me the interviewer's name." And then we got, it was just that networking aspect was really, drove me on there. And then they gave me some insight. They said, "Hey, out of the five people you're in the running with, you're the only person with a referral." And to this day, people ask me, "Hey, how'd you break in? Who did you talk to?" I'm like, "I got my William & Mary network." Again, go to, there's... Yeah, I'm sorry, this is for alumni, sorry. But anyways, but yeah, so if you go to like the William & Mary job boards and go on LinkedIn, you'll see a lot of those people interacting. Reach out to those people if you're part of the program. They're more than willing to help, myself included.

0:40:49.4 Andrew Guevara: Oh my God, thank you. I wish we could really spend a lot more time because you're at the job board, the William & Mary. [0:40:54.6] ____ to try to say something [0:40:56.2] ____.

0:40:57.8 JD Due: I was just going to add on to what Kwesi was saying because I think it goes to Landon's previous question too, with a very geographic sort of focus component of that. And that is what I do. And again, if we're having that conversation, actually usually, and I've had this conversation with each of the students on here in different ways too, I actually always start with geography. If you're looking for opportunities, geography's a really effective screening criteria, and I use two tools. I use LinkedIn, just as Kwesi was sort of describing, but then we also have another tool called William & Mary's One Network. It's an alumni... It's like a closed LinkedIn group, but you get access to that as soon as you're a student. And so, Landon, in your particular example, I already have done like two geographic searches in terms of Michigan. And on One Network, we have, like, 25 alumni that are in the Michigan area that's there. And then on my LinkedIn network, I have 39 close contacts that I could reach out to as well.

0:41:58.5 JD Due: So what we would do, we've already screened that geographically. Right? So now we have about 75 folks that we can think about connecting you with. The next thing that we talk about, and you already shared it with your second question to Kwesi, was then industry. I can then cross-reference that in terms of industry and those components as well. And those are two tools as well as some external sort of connections that I use. Jenni used one to find her way to John Deere with an organization that we partner with almost weekly called 50Strong, which again brings employers both large, medium, and small, together with military-connected talent to make those sort of connections. And again, that's at the heart of what we do.

0:42:36.3 Kwesi Campbell: Thank you for that. I was going to say One Network, but then I said, oh, that might be an alumni thing or a participant thing. But yeah, get in there. Get access to One Network. It's great. It's growing. You want to be a part of it.

0:42:46.9 Andrew Guevara: I love it. Thank you both so much. I know these are questions me, Jeffrey, Jackie, others get all the time on the admissions side of things. So this insight you are providing is incredibly beneficial to many prospective students and the people in attendance this afternoon. So thank you. But last but not least, Jenni, let's go to you real quick. And we'll go around, so we'll start with you. Jenni, could you briefly share any piece of advice you would give to active military members or veterans, spouses, anyone considering William & Mary? Jenni, we'll start with you.

0:43:22.4 Jennifer Karnosky: Yeah. So again, just to repeat some of the sentiments that have been a theme throughout this, it all boils down to that networking. The strength of the network that exists with William & Mary globally, certainly within the United States, for the, like, what JD was just talking about, I think you would have a hard time finding another one with that level of strength. And you end up with an army of advocates behind you. If you pursue networking, do be involved. Use the resources that are available to you. Be selective about which school you go to based on the quality of those resources. If you're considering William & Mary and pivoting from whether it be just staying at home or active duty, if you're trying to transition into the civilian side, have an army of advocates behind you. Participate in the networking things. Keep in touch with people. That 50Strong partnership that JD just mentioned, anytime there's an opportunity to engage in an online setting where you can set yourself up for success in a remote capacity or even geographically, pursue those things. If you're not actively looking for a role at the time, use the clout of William & Mary.

0:44:43.4 Jennifer Karnosky: Like Kwesi was saying, I was able to leverage just being enrolled in a program to start my work career back again just because it said William & Mary. They're like, "Oh, she must be smart. She got into that program." So use the clout, use the leverage. Network as many times as possible. And even if you're not actively pursuing work, attend the job fairs. Keep your resume up to date. Every time you learn a new skill, see how you can apply that in sort of that STAR interviewing technique where you can describe your situation and your results. And just keep active, keep positive. And even in the crazy market that is today, just having the initiative to stay engaged, I think, will make you stand out. And you already have those skills because you learned them in the military.

0:45:29.3 Andrew Guevara: I love it. Thank you so much. What about you, Nick? Any piece of advice you'd give?

0:45:34.8 Nick Bowlin: I would just say really two groups need to support you on your MBA journey. And one of those groups is your immediate family because there's going to be some times where you're going to be doing some work, and there's going to be some adjustment to your home, work, school balance. You also need to talk to, if you're active duty, you need to talk to your chain of command, and they need to understand what the requirements are of the program. And really tell them about it and almost sell it to them. Let them know the value that they're going to get from you going through this program. And one way that I really found that, because in the beginning of my journey, my assistant chief of staff that I work for, he was kind of skeptical, wasn't really very supportive of it, but I actually took him to a William & Mary networking event down here in Norfolk, and he's a believer now, and he actually made some connections as well. So having those groups of people on board is good. But I would encourage you also to talk to Carolyn. I will say Carolyn Ward is, even though you're one of many students at William & Mary, if you're a veteran, she feels like a concierge.

0:46:56.0 Nick Bowlin: She will make you feel like you are the only person that she deals with the entire year. I never had any issues as far as funding, and the funding options that were available to me were, she was familiar with all of it. I didn't have any issues. So that would be my advice. Talk to your family, talk to your employer, make sure you have a plan, talk to Carolyn. And I don't know if Jeffrey remembers or not, but he was actually my enrollment advisor, and he was great. Same treatment. No stone left unturned, smooth process from start to finish. And also, if you do decide to join the program, a good relationship with your student success coordinator is key as well. And that was very crucial to me because there were some times where I thought I was going to have to take a break, but talking through that and having a true advocate along the entire journey was very key to me. So that would be my advice for somebody looking to come into the program.

0:47:55.8 Andrew Guevara: Thank you so much. I wish we could go for another hour or so because there's so much I want to unpack and follow up on, but thank you so much, Nick. But for the sake of time, Terrence, what about you? What advice would you share?

0:48:08.7 Terrence Mack: Two things, mainly for me. One, as much time as you spend studying, spend that same amount of time connecting with people on their industry or they're working in, other contacts they might know. Just get to know people because the person you know might know the person that knows that CEO at John Deere or Newport News Shipbuilding or someone that wants to help you get to where you want to be. So I would say, as much time as you would spend studying, spend that same amount of time trying to connect with one person each week. And then take the time while you're in the MBA program to focus on technical skills, Microsoft Excel, any of the new types of things that have come up since AI. The residency on AI was incredibly beneficial, and it's a great conversation starter even if you don't work in AI with any employer that you'll ever come across. So just take advantage of the fullness of the MBA program. Don't use it to just put your face in a book and learn, but also connect with people that are going to help you get your next opportunity.

0:49:21.7 Andrew Guevara: Love that. Thank you so much. And then Kwesi, what about you? What advice would you give to active duty or veteran or anyone considering William & Mary?

0:49:29.5 Kwesi Campbell: See, I like Terrence's advice because I'm going to tell you, networking, I cannot stress the importance of networking and doing it early. See, I'm a huge advocate of LinkedIn. And the reason I'm saying I'm a huge advocate of LinkedIn is because it takes time to build a strong LinkedIn profile, reaching out to people, building those connections. You want to build connections before you really need to kind of leverage them or have those asks. You don't want to get on there and just start asking people to do a bunch of things. But networking is so huge. There are plenty of great programs out here, plenty of competitive schools, plenty of competitive people. And so the differentiator is who do you know? Before Deloitte, I was in the Hughes spaces, I was in banking, I was with the Wells Fargo people. I was competing against all these... I was in a role for a junior vice president of international policy. I was competing against people from Harvard, all these different things, and the differentiator was, yeah, I know those people. I was a veteran, I've seen the world, and you bring a lot of power, you bring a lot of expertise, and this William & Mary brand is just icing on top of it.

0:50:46.6 Kwesi Campbell: And you just want to be a part of this brand. So networking. Networking is where, as much as you spend studying, you need to be talking to people, getting to know people. I am still, I won't say their names, but I'm in a group chat right now with a CEO of a major corporation right now, with a doctor, two vice presidents, one's a dietitian. We're in an active group chat right now, and we stay connected. And I was like, "Hey, I'm falling short on something. Can you help me out?" And instantly came to my rescue, this consultancy here, and was like, "Hey, you should do this. I know this person. Let me give them a call, X, Y, Z." And they actually got me the answer. And this was the CEO guy. So you meet some people here, some go-getters.

0:51:29.1 Andrew Guevara: Yeah. It's no, as I know it was a slide earlier, it's no accident William & Mary's ranked number nine in networking because of all the reasons you gave and the others as well too. So thank you all so much. I meant it when I said I wish I could go for another hour or two because there's so many follow-up questions and all, but I see you posted your LinkedIns in the chat there. So if you do want to hear more from these great panelists, they were very gracious in sending their LinkedIns in the chat. And so if you want to reach out, you're more than welcome to. But again, for the sake of time, I do want to start wrapping things up before Q&A. So speaking of Q&A, I see the team has done a great job answering and so on. But if you have any questions before we wrap up, please put your questions in the Q&A. We will try to get to them at the end. If we don't have time, I'll take a screenshot and we'll follow up later on on your questions. So again, put your questions in the Q&A feature, not the chat.

0:52:23.1 Andrew Guevara: The chat is saved for, again, helpful links. Couple of things. One, again, for the sake of time, I'll keep this brief, but if you do feel inspired, if you do want to move forward, here are the application steps. Very brief, I break it down to four simple steps. Step one is uploading your resume. Step two, upload your college transcripts. An unofficial copy would suffice for now to apply, submit, and move forward. Step three, add two references, both of which only have to fill out a brief recommendation, a brief questionnaire rather, and a link to that questionnaire is emailed after you save their info to your application. Step four, last but not least, two admission essays for the MBA: Personal statement and leadership essay. One essay for all other programs and certificates, just the personal statement for all other programs. The application fee will be waived because you all joined this evening. So on the bottom of your application, it's very obvious, on the acknowledgment section on the very bottom of your application, there's an opportunity for you to request an application fee waiver. Just check the box for fee waiver request. A drop-down menu will appear.

0:53:30.8 Andrew Guevara: Select one of the options that fits best, save your application, and an email will generate with a waiver code for you to enter. As for deadlines, the original priority deadline was tonight, the 14th, but breaking news, it was recently extended through next week Friday. I know Haley and others are in PTO, and for other reasons, it's been extended through next week Friday, the 21st. So you now have some extra time to meet that priority deadline. Final deadline would be April 4th. Class begins Monday, May 5th. Those are the deadlines. Now, I know we've got about five minutes remaining, so while we wait for questions to come in, JD, sorry to put you on the spot, but what advice would you give to prospective students, whether they're military, non-military, or whatever?

0:54:21.2 JD Due: I think the biggest advice is actually, it goes back to that sort of point of introspection, right? Asking yourself some of the different sort of questions even outside the context of your military experience, but just different sort of professional activities and skills that you either want to explore and grow in or those are the skills that give you deep, deep fulfillment. I'm absolutely serious that we're sort of on a mission here to help people operate at their most productive, their most fulfilled, and their most resilient. And there's a business case to putting those three things together, and there's also a deeply human case of putting those three things together as well.

0:54:56.5 JD Due: And when you do it the right way, you're going to create opportunities not only that design a career trajectory, you're also going to be able to design a life that integrates in and fits with that piece. But more than anything, it starts when you look in the mirror, right? It starts with strengths that you have, areas that you want to grow in, the values that you have. And if you start there and then look for different points of congruence, that is the best way to make a choice. Whether it's a program, an academic program, or whether it's a career opportunity, that I think is what lets you sort be wise for all time coming and not just super clever with a new resume format or something like that. What is the actual substance of you that you want to grow and then offer in this new chapter of service?

0:55:41.4 Andrew Guevara: Thank you so much, JD, for your insight and for helping put this all together. And I think Jeffrey posted the link earlier, but Jeffrey, could you post the link again to JD's contact at the Center for Military Transition? So if you do want to learn more about JD's Center for Military Transition, if you want to connect with JD, he's an open book, as you can see. Great guy, very friendly. It's been wonderful working with him. And if you want to learn more about, again, him and his center, again, I believe Jeffrey will post that link. Oh, sorry, and JD posted his LinkedIn as well too, so you also have access to his LinkedIn there too. I do want to address a question from the Q&A. Thank you, Jackie, for answering. Someone asked about fall applications. Looks like Jackie did respond. So yes, there is also a fall start, which begins late August, if the summer term is too soon. But like I mentioned earlier, the application steps truly aren't too bad. The application process can be as quick or as long as you make it. Matt, Haley, Aliyah, they are all a wonderful team. They try their best to review applications as soon as they can, so that way you have time to secure funding, such as your GI Bill or any other VA benefit.

0:56:53.6 Andrew Guevara: I know the panelists highlighted Carolyn Ward and how responsive and wonderful she is. She truly is a wonderful person. I'm always so blown away by how quickly she responds to people. So she is a great contact. And so along with everyone else here tonight, the student panelists, JD, Matt, I know there are so many people to lean on. It is truly such a great network, and I could go on and on. I've been smiling throughout the entire presentation because of how happy I am, how blessed I am to be part of this and to learn from these student panelists and others. So for the panelists, thank you for your time. I know some of you were wrapping up work before jumping in here, so thank you for taking time out of your busy days to help us out. And JD as well, thank you for helping put this together. All the other members of the team, it means a lot. You make a huge impact. You've made a huge impact on everyone watching today and the others who will watch the recording. For the sake of time, though, I believe we are all set. Unless any other questions come up through the Q&A. We've got about two minutes remaining, so we'll wrap up early for tonight. I hope you have a great Friday. Enjoy. Oh, let me check the Q&A. Oh, thank you, Daniel. Glad you enjoyed it. And yeah, hope you all enjoy your Friday. Have a great weekend. And yeah, we'll be in touch.

0:58:14.6 Kwesi Campbell: Awesome. Appreciate everybody. Start that LinkedIn.