Chenjie Ding (’19) is a first-year MBA student at UCLA Anderson. Prior to enrolling at Anderson, she worked for six years as a business journalist in China and the U.S. writing about tech, entrepreneurship, M&As, private wealth and, as she says, “anything in between!” Her work appeared in Forbes, Brightwire and the Wall Street Journal and on the BBC, among others. For the last two years, she oversaw a team of more than 10 reporters and 50 freelancers to cover the global tech industry, which she says taught her a lot about media strategy, operations and team management. “Now I want to transition into tech,” she says, “leveraging Anderson’s top-ranking career resources and strong industry ties.” We invited Ding to share her impressions of her first few weeks at Anderson.
By Chenjie Ding
Orientation
One of the first things I did after arriving in L.A. was to go to Dean Rob Weiler’s office. I met him for the first time in February, when he hosted a lunch for a few admitted students in Westwood. He is sharp and charismatic. I was amazed by how quickly he connected with us on a very personal level.
When he sent out an email inviting first-years to have one-on-one meetings before orientation, I signed up immediately. Although many business schools boast great access to mentorship, I never expected it to be so easy! At the end of our conversation, he challenged me, asking, “What are the leadership skills you want to develop the most at Anderson?”
He added, “Think about it and work on them deliberately.”
Although I still don’t have a complete answer, one area I want to work on is the ability to take actions — starting from within the classroom. I am not a shy person, but I don’t raise my hand unless I am a hundred percent confident in my answer. Now, in a conscious effort to express my opinions more often, I force myself to raise my hand before organizing the details in my head, and that has served as great training for me to think faster.
My favorite part of orientation was doing the ropes course during Leadership Foundations week. The one-day physical training provided the best teamwork setting to push me to face my own strengths and weaknesses. One of my teammates is afraid of heights, but he chose to conquer his fear by volunteering to be the first climber of a 25-foot pole. As we cheered him on for every small step upward, I started to understand the value of shared success. It was truly amazing to see how we all stepped out of our comfort zone, both mentally and physically. My classmate Brian Cho (’19) and I barely knew each other before a partnership exercise, but it helped us bond, as we depended on each other to maintain balance 30 feet above the ground. After that day, we felt as though we’d been friends for many years, and we have carried the friendship well beyond that task to discussing academic questions, exploring food and sharing life stories!
Friends
Anderson matches each international student with a domestic student through the Global Partners program. I love how different the background of my partner Gerald Sims (’19) is from mine: he served in the U.S. Marine Corps in San Diego while I was writing breaking news from the opposite corner of the country. And I have no doubt that in the next two years we will both benefit from each other’s unique perspectives, shaped by our different experience.
In three short weeks, everyone I have met at Anderson has kept me humble with their remarkable talents and extraordinary experiences. Yet they excel without attitude. Karene Daniel (’19) impressed me on the first day of school with her achievement in public radio; but as a friend, she is more of listener than a talker. Rinaldi Juwono (’19) was a high achiever at Boston Consulting Group, but he is also super generous with his time when I ask for help (he even brainstormed with me for this blog!). Jasmine Guo (’19) danced on the same stage with Beyoncé at the Super Bowl, but she never talked about it until a friend mentioned it at a girls’ wine night.
Speaking of social life in business school, it can be overwhelming but also incredibly rewarding. I decided before coming to Anderson that quality matters more than quantity. Despite a short time together, I already see lifelong friendships forming during events like the girls’ night. Nothing gets better than playing games while enjoying a bottle of fine wine with your fellow classmates on a California Saturday night.
Living in Los Angeles
Having lived in five large cities in the past 10 years, I knew I wanted to go to business school in a city, too. I chose to come to L.A. for its great food, perfect weather and unique access to the intersection of the tech, entertainment and finance industries.
In the past three weeks, I have been attending tech mixers in Silicon Beach. Meeting people from all types of startups has really opened my eyes as I adapt to the local tech community and build meaningful connections. I became friends with a group of entrepreneurs who are working on a sports social app after we happened to meet twice at different events in August.
However, L.A. is not just about tech or entertainment, it’s home to many other trailblazing industries. It’s impossible to get bored here with some of the nicest beaches and museums in the world only 20 minutes away. Even when you are stuck in traffic, it’s always a good time to catch up with the podcasts you’ve missed for weeks. To me, that’s also quality time.
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