Student Spotlight
Raymond Jackson
"I knew the Graziadio School concentrated on the skills I would need to be successful in management."
Why did you choose the Graziadio School?
I knew the Graziadio School concentrated on the skills I would need to be successful in management. Other programs concentrate primarily on technical skills, such as accounting and statistics, and they stop there. They wouldn't give me the skills to work with individuals of different backgrounds. And once I had a taste of what Pepperdine was like, I had such a profound experience that the thought of ending with my bachelor's degree wasn't an option.
What makes the Graziadio School unique?
When programs talk about how professors are accessible, they mean office hours. Pepperdine professors are co-classmates, co-participants in your learning experience. They don't stand over you and dole out answers; they discover answers with you. They are deeply involved.
How has your Graziadio School experience changed you?
My experience before Pepperdine was that any star student could carry a group project. However, projects at Pepperdine were so intense that you couldn't do it alone, and it was that way by design. The programs are developed so that you have to learn to work together, just like in a real workplace. And you can't pick someone in the cubicle next to you, just like in a real workplace.
At the communications workshop, which is held at the start of the program, Pepperdine faculty make you into a team. They told us this is what we'll spend the next two years learning how to do -- and you do.
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