Gursean Singh Aujla ’22

I had reached a “now or never” moment in my career. I needed to decide if I was going to pivot or stay the course. I’d been a high school teacher and a public health consultant and even had a brief stint in corporate and product strategy, but I wanted my work to have more of a direct impact on people. The tech industry, specifically consumer tech, seemed ideal, but I didn’t have a tech network, and I needed a stronger business education.

I was attracted to Yale SOM because of the interdisciplinary nature of the school. I didn’t want to be in an MBA silo on campus and I was looking for a program that was part of a larger university. Yale SOM fit the bill, both with the ability to take classes outside the business school and with faculty from across Yale teaching at SOM. I’ve been able to meet and network with people from across campus.

The alumni network really helped me find my internship and my full-time position. I wanted to move into the consumer tech space, specifically in an area that I was passionate about myself as a consumer. When a Yale SOM alum in the gaming space, at Riot Games, reached out to the school about hiring interns, I jumped on the opportunity. I interned at Riot over the summer and will be returning after graduation.

Yale SOM offers so much opportunity to be involved and shape your experience. I’m a leader of the Private Equity & Venture Capital Club and was on the team that represented Yale in the Venture Capital Investment Competition last year, where we won our regional round and went to semi-finals. I also represent Yale SOM on the Graduate and Professional Student Senate, which lets me connect with the broader community by holding cross-campus events and advocating for issues that impact the whole campus.

Beyond activities like these, the access Yale affords to experts is probably the coolest thing about being here. I’ve had the opportunity to hear from world-famous journalists, government officials, and of course CEOs. Timothy Geithner, Fareed Zakaria, Loretta Lynch, Neil Shen, Ash Carter, Jeh Johnson, and Howard Dean—among others—are all people that I’ve not only been able to hear speak, but also engaged with and asked questions of. It takes classroom learning beyond theory and into practice.