Breaking Stereotypes and Building Dreams: Maria’s Journey to HBS
Maria was born with Erb’s palsy, a disability that affected her right arm. This limited her arm’s mobility, strength, and sensations and caused frequent pain. However, her parents ingrained in her an unyielding attitude and fortitude by encouraging her to live her life to the fullest. They consistently showcased grit to help her navigate constant medical treatments, becoming a source of deep inspiration for Maria.
Most of Maria’s growing-up years were spent going back and forth between India and the US. However, the majority of her schooling happened in India. Achieving great academic reports, Maria worked hard and secured an offer from IIT Madras to pursue an undergraduate degree in Ocean Engineering. However, during the course of her undergraduate studies, she realized that she didn’t want to pursue a career in the space and therefore started looking for opportunities in software development.
Starting her career as a software developer at Citibank, she worked on multiple aspects of products. However, realizing that she yearned to be in a role where she could experience the entire product life cycle, she decided to apply for the Product Manager jobs. That’s when she switched to Ford as a Product Manager, mainly handling the software products for their electric vehicles in their Indian and Michigan offices.
Being extremely passionate about dance, she started leading Dance for All Bodies – a non profit with a mission to dismantle the notion that dance is for a certain kind of body and to spread the joy of dance to all bodies. Building this inclusive community through the non-profit, Maria ensured that people with disability can pursue their passion for dance in a safe environment.
Having encountered challenges as a woman in tech, she realized she wanted to take a step towards helping other women in the field. That’s when she joined the Michigan Council of Women in Technology Foundation (MCWT) and focused her efforts on improving gender inclusion in the tech workforce by teaching STEM skills to young schoolgirls.
Five years into her career in product management, Maria realized that to create the impact she sought through her work, she needed to develop fundamental business skills and leadership acumen. This realization sparked her decision to pursue an MBA. However, preparing for the MBA applications while juggling a demanding full-time job and managing two nonprofits was no easy feat.
At AG, Maria found structure and clarity in her approach to writing her essays and credits that to Rajdeep’s sessions and Nisha’s 1:1 support and guidance. Reflecting on her experience working with her consultant, Nisha, Maria shared, “I knew what I wanted to write about in my essays, but Nisha helped me present my life experiences in a polished and impactful way.”
Maria’s resilience and pursuit of excellence helped her receive offers from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, University of Michigan – Stephen M. Ross School of Business, Northwestern University – Kellogg School of Management, and Harvard Business School with a combined $380k in scholarships. With such amazing options in hand, Maria finally decided to join HBS to fulfill her dreams at one of the best business school in the world.
To read more such stories of folks who got into their dream business schools to pursue their lifelong passion, check out our success stories.
