Slice of Life Video: Sacramento Part-Time MBA

Regina Saldana MBA 25
Supervisor, PG&E

Our cohort is amazing. We connected from the beginning. It’s been a really special journey because we get to learn together. We started together. We're going through the whole program together. And throughout just the last two years, we've celebrated life experiences.

There's GSM babies that have been born, and people have gotten new opportunities, new positions, even changed companies. And we all celebrate each other and kind of encourage each other along the way.

I work full time actually. So I have a full-time career. Single mom, two boys, two wonderful boys. They're 16 and 20. Balancing family, gosh. Balancing that with school has been the biggest challenge.

But the reward of them seeing me go through this and at the end have something so rewarding that will pay back our family for generations has made it worth it.

Ghazi Alvi MBA 24
Engineer, Eton Corporation

Do you want to be in a place where your speaking, your knowledge is appreciated, where people want you to speak, where people want you to learn, they want you to speak your mind? This program, one of my most favorite parts, is lunchtime talks.

In that one hour, you get to sit with your fellow students, get to sit with your faculty. It's probably one of the most valuable things in this program. Talking about your experiences, your bonding — that is where you build some strong relationships.

Jerel Campbell MBA 24 
Supervisor, Automotive Industry

One of the things I've probably enjoyed the most in the program is the diversity within the cohort. I mean, we've got lawyers, people in health care, people in I.T. And what's been truly beneficial is in some of the group discussions, the group meetings, getting some of the diverse perspectives to make me think beyond sort of the box that I've kind of been in through my profession.

I manage a relatively large team, 250-plus people that spans throughout Northern California. And so the ability to join virtually regardless of where I was at during the week, but then also have some in-person sessions every other Saturday, allowed me to still have some comfortability with the learning style I've been accustomed to.

What I can say is I've established some true relationships that will go beyond this program, and I can't stress enough how flexible this program has been for me to learn all the things that I wanted to whilst being able to balance being a newlywed, establishing myself in a new position, in a new location, and thriving.