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Discovering the power of friendship: the success story of Maria Clelia Pagliaro, MBA class of 2016
Discovering the power of friendship: the success story of Maria Clelia Pagliaro, MBA class of 2016
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MBA 2015

When I applied to the LUISS MBA program, I had just graduated with a Master’s Degree in International Politics and Foreign Affairs. The business world was fascinating to me, and I liked the idea of challenging myself in a new and diverse career path.

Nonetheless, I had a gap compared with future colleagues having a background in finance, marketing or economics. So I decided to go London for an intensive Business English course: the more I could become comfortable in English, the more it would help me overcome my limits in the other subjects. So I took a flight and arrived alone in snowy cold London. By the summer, with great sacrifice and hard study, I passed the LUISS admissions exam, and I was an MBA student!

The LUISS MBA program was rich, intense and challenging, and my class had a melting pot of different nationalities, languages and cultures. I had the chance to learn many topics in the business world, from statistics to corporate strategy, and this was fundamental to acquire the necessary skills to enter the job market.

During the MBA I discovered the power of friendship. Not having experience in finance and economics, I was fortunate to meet two people who became my dearest friends. They were experts in those fields and helped me every day to learn these new topics. In return, I helped them to learn the more humanistic subjects. Together we overcame all the challenges (even the hardest, the unthinkable ones!) thanks to mutual support and patience.  I will be grateful to them for all my life!!

Following the program I got a position with the cosmetics company where I did my first internship. I am a junior brand manager in the marketing team. The MBA was a fundamental step in my career, and the decision to do it was the most important milestone of my professional life.

Looking back on my experience I would give this advice to prospective candidates: Give everything – your mind, your heart, your soul – and enjoy what will be one of the best periods of your life!

15/05/2017

Publication date
May 15 2017