Mariya Maksymova

A year ago, I was attending my first Ivey recruiting event, still not sure if I was going to apply to the program. I always knew that I wanted to do an MBA at some point in my life, but it just never seemed to be the right time and I remember thinking — “is this the right choice?”

After graduating from the University of Toronto with a Bachelors of Commerce, I held a number of very rewarding roles in the financial services industry, first in a business development capacity in commercial banking and subsequently transitioning to a more credit-focused role in renewable energy and infrastructure project financing. Reflecting on my decision to apply to Ivey, it came down to the program being the perfect fit. I was looking to broaden my business acumen, build upon my leadership skills, and cultivate a global business perspective. In addition, I wanted to do all of that in one year. Now, almost halfway through the program, I can say that the Ivey MBA was definitely the right choice.

Having a strong analytical background, the case methodology used at Ivey was the perfect avenue for me to develop a decision-making attitude in areas that I had not previously been exposed to. Learning from the real-life experiences of my classmates, professors, and guest speakers, and taking on a leadership role with the MBA Association, has been invaluable in building on my leadership skills. Finally, with in-class discussions expanding beyond North America, my perspective has already shifted to a global scale and going on an international study trip will award me an opportunity to actually see how businesses are run abroad.

Before starting the program, an Ivey alum gave me a piece of advice: she said “a year goes by quickly — do absolutely everything you can in the program.” Looking back at the last six months, I could not agree more and that would be my advice to future students as well. Your experience at Ivey is what you make of it and so far mine has been pretty great.