Student Spotlight - Nicole Thomas MBA 2007

Nicole Thomas

Hometown: Flint, Michigan

Undergrad: Florida A&M University (Architecture), University of Michigan-Flint (Computer Science)

Pre-MBA Career: Network Engineer for Computer Sciences Corporation and Motorola, Co-owner of a children’s book business

Why did you choose Michigan?

Among many other reasons, I chose Michigan because I knew that I could tailor my experience to strongly pursue my interests in social entrepreneurship and marketing. I also anticipated heavy international exposure through MAP, studying abroad, classes and what is now known as MAP2 (Global Projects) which made it very attractive. Additionally, I observed Michigan’s response to the Supreme Court case regarding diversity in 2003. The school dedicated significant resources to this case which solidified in my mind that I would have a strong support system and be surrounded by people who desired to lead organizations that represent the world around us. It also doesn’t hurt that Michigan has been ranked in the top 10 since BusinessWeek began ranking business schools.

How have you been active at Ross?

I decided to focus my activities on solidifying the communities of African-Americans and women at Ross by serving on the executive boards of the Black Business Students Association (BBSA) and Michigan Business Women (MBW). For the BBSA, I led student career workshops to prepare first years for the NBMBAA Conference, chaired a panel for the 2006 BBSA Conference, created the annual Meeting of the Minds, and I am planning a golf workshop for April, 2007. For the Michigan Business Women student club, I chaired Cocktail Connections, the kickoff networking event to the Women In Leadership Conference. I also led a team to put on the first ever professional dress fashion show with student models. Last year I also participated in Follies, a theater performance put on by the students at Ross, and led a team of 20 UM graduate and undergraduate African-American students to participate in the 2006 Super Bowl Halftime Show in Detroit.

Talk about the value of your MAP experience:

I expected to learn about social entrepreneurship in my MAP. I never imagined that I would learn it through the eyes of Indian people who make less than $10.00/day. I valued the opportunity to apply what I had learned for the first three quarters in a 7-week student consulting project. This type of experience was also great to have going into my internship. My MAP team worked really well together and we still meet monthly to catch up on each other’s lives.