Rotman is valued worldwide for its renowned faculty, cutting-edge curriculums, and excellent location at the heart of Toronto’s financial and business core. The school makes its programs more accessible through a generous system of Entrance Awards, of which over $1 million is awarded to incoming students each year for the Morning/Evening MBA alone.
This was case for Miruna Toma (Morning ‘21), who received one of the prestigious Rotman Morning Entrance Awards. We sat down with Miruna to get an idea of how the Entrance Award has helped her studies, what appealed to her about the Morning MBA, and to get some insight about the most rewarding aspects of her program.
“A badge of honour”
For Miruna, obtaining the Entrance Award alleviated a lot of pressure at the outset of her MBA journey.
As someone who is self-sponsoring their MBA degree, it made me feel tremendously appreciated by Rotman for the determination I put into my application, and for all of the dedication I would bring to this amazing school.
The award was also coupled with an invitation to a Rotman School of Management Awards Breakfast, hosted by Rotman’s Dean, Tiff Macklem. The breakfast presented a platform for Miruna to mingle with Award winners across Rotman’s various programs. Miruna was incredibly proud to have received the prestigious award.
“My Morning MBA Entrance Award is a badge of honour that I have carried on me throughout this first year, and I aspire to add more awards throughout this journey.”
“Rotman was the clear and only choice”
Miruna’s academic background was in the field of International Relations, specifically history and political science. While this provided a great foundation for strategic thinking and problem-solving, Miruna felt that she was missing the key business acumen to refine ideas in the context of complex and large financial institutions like CIBC. For Miruna, the MBA fulfilled this need by providing the ideal bridge between her inherent leadership skills and the finesse of data-driven analyses.
Of the various MBA programs within Canada, Rotman was the clear and only choice. Rotman School of Management has a rich history of innovation, a renowned roster of professors, a high-quality cohort, beautiful campus in downtown Toronto, and a plethora of events and speaker series to attend.
Miruna joined CIBC in 2015 as a Program Coordinator and transitioned to her current role of Scrum Master, where she champions the Agile technology delivery framework across the organization.
Highlights of Miruna’s degree
For Miruna, the most rewarding part of her degree has been to continuously expand her capacity to work hard and ability to work efficiently. While sustaining the balance between work, school, and personal obligations has been challenging, this has boosted her time-management skills and work-ethic.
“I am increasingly inspired to elevate my work ethic, organizational skills and time-management strategies, so that I can deliver high quality projects at school and at work, while still being able to enjoy hobbies, family and friends. This is a crucial lesson that I will continue to benefit from after I graduate.”
Miruna’s highlight of her Rotman experience was the personal and professional connections she built with her cohort. She also appreciated the diversity of her classmates.
In the classroom, our introspective discussions and debates reflect the rich variety of industries, backgrounds and careers that are represented at Rotman. This has provided invaluable insights into the thoughts and ideas of Toronto’s emerging young leaders.
As for advice, Miruna had one last thing to say for those considering an MBA at Rotman:
“My advice would be to come and experience this for yourself. Rotman offers a range of Open Houses, Speaker series and Lectures that students can shadow and explore. Start your discussions with the friendly Rotman Admissions team early, so that you can witness firsthand what a difference Rotman will make.”
To learn more about the Morning & Evening MBA, contact me-mba@rotman.utoronto.ca.
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