(lively music)
-: I've chosen MEM over
an MBA or a technical engineering master's degree
because I'm an army officer
and typically army officers
that have an engineering branch job code,
go for MEM programs,
just because it's a little bit more applicable
to what we do.
From the get go,
the financial cost is really not too much of a burden,
I don't think,
compared to a lot of MEM programs out there,
but on top of that,
as an aptitude service member, as a veteran,
you get a 15% discount off tuition.
The program has great courses that are specific to my needs.
I've so far taking two courses on both leadership
and teamwork and organizational collaboration.
And, part of my job as an army officer
is basically leading people,
bringing teams together to accomplish a mission.
I would say the biggest thing
that the program has done for me is most principally,
is leadership.
Just understanding why we lead the way that we do.
I've always thought of myself as a good leader.
I've been rated as a good leader against my peers,
but I've never really understood
why other leaders are the way that they are.
And it's interesting to see
kind of like the psychological aspect of that.
I've noticed in my five plus years,
professional life after undergrad,
that I deal with people
that are kind of rigid when it comes to, you know,
understanding why people work,
understanding how people work,
understanding how teams come together
and teams collaborate
and get the job done.
Having a STEM background combined
with this master's degree and this program,
I'm going to be able to walk into an organization,
identify why things are deficient,
identify why people are struggling
or excelling in whatever they're doing
and better help the organization,
whether it's their bottom line
or whether it's just productivity in general.
Which is something that I think people
with hard engineering degrees
that don't have this kind of leadership background,
would struggle with when it comes
to improving quality of organizations
and processes and productivity.