Being a team guide: IMPACT360 as a second-year student
Now that Mid-Semester Modules and spring break are over, my class is kicking off the final few weeks of our MBA experience. As we move toward graduation, a lot of transitions have been happening; first-year students are moving into leadership roles as the Class of 2018 winds down. Most of my extracurricular involvement at GBS is coming to a close, but I’m still part of one activity that will last until the end of my second year; I’m a team guide for the IMPACT360 course.
IMPACT360 is a year-long program at Goizueta designed to build students’ problem-solving and communication skills. It begins with a core course in the fall semester followed by a client project in the spring in which students are able to gain real-world experience in advance of their summer internships. Teams are divided into elective courses related to their projects (including marketing strategy, operations and valuation, among others) and have a multitude of resources available to them as they work, including professors, industry experts and second-year team guides like myself. Each team has its own dedicated team guide who can provide personalized coaching and insights from their previous IMPACT360 project.
IMPACT360 was one of the most valuable experiences I had during the first year of my MBA. My team worked with Cox Media Group, and we were able to work closely with our client and our professor throughout the semester before presenting our final recommendation at Cox Media Group’s offices last April. As someone who came to business school to switch careers, having the opportunity to work on a real marketing project during my first year helped my confidence immensely going into my summer internship.
This spring, as a second-year student, I’m a team guide for a group in the Entertainment, Culture and Media IMPACT360 course. In my role, I act as an advisor to a first-year team and provide feedback on their work. I’ve been thrilled to find that even though I’ve already been through the IMPACT360 experience as a first-year, it’s been just as valuable to go through it again as a team guide. I feel lucky to have had another opportunity to work on solving a real problem with a client since it was such a positive experience for me last year. I’m also able to see my team’s project from a different perspective as a team guide; I’m more of an advisor than a day-to-day part of the team, and that involves new challenges that weren’t part of my IMPACT360 experience as a first-year.
Serving as a team guide for IMPACT360 has been amazing — it’s kept me engaged during my second semester while my other activities are winding down, and I’m happy to have the opportunity to work on one last client project before I graduate. I’m excited to finish out the semester with my team as they deliver a great presentation to their client!
