Brent Carcamo
University of Wisconsin–Madison, Wisconsin School of Business
MBA Graduation Year: 2019
Specialization: Operations and Technology Management
Hometown: Norwalk, California
Internship: Client Solutions Manager, Facebook (New York, New York)
I am attending business school as a fellow of The Consortium, the mission of which is to enhance diversity and inclusion in global business education and leadership. I want to inspire others to pursue graduate education even if the cards are stacked against them, to elevate them and ultimately the communities they come from, which has broad implications. Research shows that firms with diverse labor forces tend to perform better than less diverse firms.
The idea that university research and education should solve problems and improve health, quality of life, the environment, and agriculture for all citizens of the state truly resonates with me. This is the basis for the Wisconsin Idea, which is a fundamental principle of this university and was influential in my program choice. Looking back, I don’t think I could have made a better choice than the Wisconsin School of Business.
I want to inspire others to pursue graduate education even if the cards are stacked against them.
—Brent Carcamo
Wisconsin’s specialized model offers a curriculum I did not find in any other schools. You immediately start taking courses that you want to take, which helps tremendously when preparing to interview for internships. Another advantage for me here is program size. I learn best in small groups. Here you have small class sizes and direct access to your academic and center directors. On any given day, I can walk into my mentors’ offices and ask any question about operations or technology management.
The Wisconsin MBA does a phenomenal job of enhancing students’ emotional intelligence. We are assigned early on to a diverse group we are with all semester, which lets us practice working with a range of personalities in professional business settings. This experience proved highly useful in my internship at Facebook, where my role was client facing. I often worked with executives who were under pressure to accomplish a lot with finite marketing budgets. My skills allowed me to stay calm, empathize with clients, and build solid relationships.
The diversity of my peers at Wisconsin provides tremendous insights and value. The admissions staff excels at assuring diversity in every Wisconsin MBA class. My peers have had a tremendous impact on my learning experience here. For example, one friend in the finance specialization can tell me all about entrepreneurship in China, since he started his own successful business there before enrolling at Wisconsin. Another friend, who is in the human resources specialization, was a former Amazon employee, who shared all about operations at AmazonFresh.
The Wisconsin MBA program trip to Spain last year as part of Wisconsin’s International Business Global Course was outstanding. We visited Madrid’s transportation agency, a wine production facility in Toledo, the Madrid offices of GE Healthcare, and a key regional office of Wacker Neuson. As a group, we grew really close from this shared experience, which further strengthened the quality of my professional network.