This June, we are running the ICS Alumni Donation Drive, a one-month initiative inviting students, alumni, faculty, and the Schools friends and family to come together, and make a collective impact on ICS' Future.
In this blog, post, we want to share Ken's story, an MBA alumnus from the Class of 2016 and also one of the ICS Alumni Donation Drive Ambassadors.
Q. How has ICS shaped you as a person?
As is every ICS class cohort, the ICS Class of 2016 was professionally and culturally diverse. I thus had the opportunity to hone my communication and teamwork skills in a diverse setting, which I knew would be crucial to my goal of working in an international environment.
While most companies embrace diversity as a strength, mismanaging diversity can kill positive momentum, harming rather than benefitting. In my MBA, as members were always different for each project, I had many opportunities to observe how various communication styles can either drive and hinder progress. The ability to navigate diversity’s complexities to bring out its benefits is something valuable that I gained from ICS.
Q. What is the best memory from your time at ICS?
I have several great memories from the various challenges ICS provided its students. However, if I had to choose one, I would have to go with graduation. Even during my time as a student, I knew that ICS would be pivotal to my lifelong dream of living and working in Japan. ICS not only provided me with the business acumen fundamentals, it also gave me a glimpse of my professional career in Japan. Graduation served as a reminder of what I had accomplished and that there was much more to be learned outside the classroom . My professional path would not have taken its current form without the “onboarding” fundamentals I received from ICS.
Q. What motivated you to become an ICS Alumni Donation Drive Ambassador?
The pandemic has brought changes that no one expected at an extremely rapid pace. The way we work, the way education is taught, all have changed dramatically. I thought that if there is a time to support ICS, it is now. I’m grateful for the experiences I had at ICS and I hope potential and future students can experience the profound, positive impact ICS has on its students.