Author: Shirin is currently enrolled in the Tech MBA program, specializing in Business Analytics and Tech Product Management. Prior to Stern, she worked in the Digital and Social Media Industries in Product Management and Tech Marketing. At Stern, she’s a part of the Entertainment, Media and Sports Association as a VP, Stern Technology Association (STA), and a representative of Graduate Admissions. In her free time, Shirin can be found venturing out in the city on the lookout for the newest food trends. She loves to spend her time catching up with friends in coffee shops, walking through Central Park, and browsing Target.
As you may have read in previous student blogs, the summer around here as a Tech MBA is definitely intense. With back to back courses and being in school from 9-5, there were countless times I wanted to call it quits. However, I never did, thanks to my amazing cohort, whom I’m proud to call fifty of my best friends.
Summer starts off with Orientation, where our Leadership Professor puts us through a rigorous exercise involving paint, mosaics, leadership, TikTok, etc. Right off the bat, we were mingling and getting to know one another. By the end of the exercise, I had already made two of my best friends in the cohort. Below is the super cool end product of our leadership exercise, a memory I’ll cherish for the rest of year!
With the two cohorts – Tech MBA’s and Luxury & Retail MBA’s- spending summer together, we took advantage of everything Stern had to offer us. This included having the MBA lounge to ourselves, easy access throughout the Stern building, and, of course, experiencing New York City’s hot and humid summer days together. This meant enjoying cold beers after long days in class.
Weekly happy hours were so much fun during the summer. We had nominated our cohort leads and our social leads to take on the “challenging” task of picking out a new bar around campus each week. Luckily, they lived up to the test and we had some great nights bonding and spending time together.
Along with our core business courses, NYC Immersion was a class we all took together. Every Wednesday, we’d be immersed in a different experience. From interviewing folks in Washington Square Park to venturing into Brooklyn to visit Smart Design HQ, we were always introduced to new ideas and experiences. One of my most memorable classes was a design seminar with a renowned Product Designer, who taught us how to use Figma to transform our product ideas into reality. Here’s a selfie of a few of us during a break that day!
Since we all worked to make this summer unforgettable, we somehow managed to get everyone out to the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania for what was hands down one of my favorite weekends. From Barbie vs. Oppenheimer themed Olympics to midnight jumps into the freezing lake, we all managed to come home refreshed! Special shoutout to the cooking and cleaning crew(s) and the group trip planning folks who made the trip possible!
As I look back and continue to reflect on the summer that I had, it was definitely a blur of back to back amazing memories. From concerts at the Brooklyn Mirage, to Pisco filled Peruvian lunches, I almost forget about the times I was cramming for our Econ and Finance finals in the Stern lounge. Though it was a busy semester, and I’m truly thankful for the calm that the Fall and Spring have brought, the time spent with new classmates during NYC’s summer is what truly makes NYU’s Tech MBA standout compared to the rest. I’m so grateful to have lived this experience, and I hope to continue making memories along the way!
