This article is part of a series highlighting the 黑料吃瓜网Class of 2018 鈥� the graduates of Dal's 200th year. Read more of our Spring Convocation grad profiles.
It鈥檚 not all that often a graduate student 鈥� or anyone 鈥� makes the switch from neuroscience to corporate banking, but that鈥檚 exactly what Karah Lee did over the past two years.
Karah, originally from Ottawa, graduates Tuesday with an MBA. She earned a BSc in life sciences from Queen鈥檚 University, an MSc in neuroscience from the University of Ottawa, and went straight into an MBA here at Dalhousie.
Karah spent time doing scientific research before deciding she wanted to try something different.
鈥淭he Dal MBA seemed like a really good option to open doors. It appealed to me because I didn鈥檛 have work experience, and a lot of other programs require multiple years,鈥� she explains.
鈥淚 was open to trying out a new field, but I didn鈥檛 know what that would be. For my eight-month residency, I ended up choosing corporate banking, and I enjoyed it.鈥� Karah鈥檚 as surprised as anyone to find herself heading to Toronto this fall to take on a job in corporate banking at Scotiabank. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a great place to start my career.鈥�
Eye-opening experiences
Being part of the MBA program at the Rowe School of Business has opened Karah鈥檚 eyes to lots of opportunities and experiences. Just before graduation, she spent two weeks in Chile and Argentina as part of the Doing Business in Emerging Markets course with Professor Valerie Trifts. Students will meet with trade commissioners, take part in site visits, and engage in economic and cultural analyses.
Karah also participated in the CFA Institute Research Challenge, an annual global competition that gives university students mentoring and training in equity research. She worked with a team of five to research and analyze a publicly traded company and then produce a report and presentation with a buy, sell or hold recommendation. 鈥淥ur biggest competitor in Atlantic Canada was Saint Mary鈥檚, and they鈥檝e won for the last couple of years. And we won this year. Our faculty advisor, Professor Jun Zhou, was ecstatic.鈥�
Winning meant Karah鈥檚 team advanced to the Americas Regional in Boston in March along with dozens of other schools from across North and South America. It鈥檚 the first time Dal has made it to this event, and the team placed second in their pool. 鈥淲e were beaten by Tufts University,鈥� she says. 鈥淪o you鈥檙e competing against these amazing big American schools.鈥�
Karah reflects that her time at 黑料吃瓜网was full of experiences that led to new ways of thinking about her future. She was a research assistant for Dr. Dana Kabat-Farr, whose focus is workplace social experiences. She was also a TA, and participated in the Creative Destruction Lab where she worked alongside a startup based in Atlantic Canada.
鈥淢ost of my experience here at Dal has been about firsts, and trying new things. Keep an open mind. It鈥檚 important to have goals and ideas about what you like and don鈥檛 like, but it鈥檚 super important to come in flexible and willing to try new things. Be open to anything happening!鈥�