Goodbye, Brazil – Hello, Pittsburgh and MBA Orientation!

Hello! My name is Luísa Felix Souza and I am an international class of 2019 MBA candidate at the Tepper School. Prior to leaving Brazil, I was feeling a mix of sensations: excitement, happiness, and a little fear combined with an extreme anxiety of starting as soon as possible. After only one week of Basecamp, I can say for sure that I am already missing what we passed through. The Tepper School’s environment and culture is so unique; students, staff, and professors are so willing to make our time the best we ever have.

As an international student, I can say that I couldn’t be in a better place. We have people from 31 different nationalities here, with diverse backgrounds, and although it may sound cliché, I feel special here.

To be honest, in one week I couldn’t meet everyone; however, I was able to feel that the best is yet to come and that these people will make a huge change in my life.

I must say that just the introduction to business that we had with professor Sridhar Tayur was already so inspiring that I cannot wait to see what we are going to learn from the amazing minds that we have as professors at Tepper School of Business. I also cannot avoid mentioning the presentation of professor Dave Mawhinney. I would risk saying that after his presentation everyone would like to try to become an entrepreneur.

The day we had at Camp Guyasuta was exceptional. I am super afraid of heights, but I was so motivated by my colleagues that I even tried to climb the wall. I wasn’t able to but that’s ok, I took the chance, and I nailed it… I even took the zip line from valley to valley. That was quite an achievement for one afraid of heights!

I truly believe that in one week we have already changed. We have already learned from each person that we speak to, from each professor that presents his/her view of business, and each staff member that has provided us with new information. I am sure that by the end of the next two years, I will become a better person and better professional, and will have built many lifetime friendships.

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Luisa Felix Souza | MBA 2019

Summer Associate at McKinsey & Company

Luísa was born and raised in Brazil and knew her entire life that she was going to be an engineer, as her grandparents and parents inspired her to be. She developed her passion for beer while working at AB-Inbev and then switched to IT consulting, where she was a project manager. She spent her summer at McKinsey in Brazil. Luísa loves to travel, run outdoors, watch movies with her husband, and is a former competitive swimmer. She is also an angel investor, on the advisory board for a healthcare startup in Brazil, a Forté Fellow, member of the Board of the Latin America Business Club, and of the Consulting Club.

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