Wharton executive MBA students bond in many ways from shared meals to study groups to their International Seminar trip. However, there are a lot of social events outside of school that also strengthen their connections, such as Wharton| San Francisco students’ recent golf outing.
Second-year EMBA student Andrew Kohm, who organized the event, explains, “We had such good time together on our class trip to Brazil that I wanted to keep that momentum going. So I chose a golf course half-way between San Francisco and San Jose and made it open to all students at all skill levels as well as their families.”
He ended up with as many people (and kids) who had never played golf as those with experience so they played in a scramble style to make it fun for everyone. Andrew, director of research and development at DFine Inc. in San Jose, notes that he also assigned teams to encourage students to play with people they might not have known as well before.
After the game, he handed out humorous awards, such as the “brain over brawn award” for the longest drive, and the “I over-analyze everything award” before heading out as a group for pizza.
Vanessa Lee, a second-year EMBA student who participated in the golf outing, says that these events provide great opportunities to network and bond. “They add a lot to our school experience because while we’re overachievers and are here to learn, we also have a lot of fun together. The events reinforce that the program isn’t just about seeing each other every other weekend in class; we’re making life-long friends and connections,” observes Vanessa, senior director of business management and operations at Sony in San Francisco.
Andrew adds that with their school year winding down, these social events are becoming even more important. “We’re excited to get closer to graduation, but we’ll all miss having the 90+ friends we can see at school every two weeks so we’re trying to spend more time together now while it’s easy to do,” he says, noting that he’s already working on a ski trip.
Read related blogs on networking/bonding in Wharton’s EMBA program:
New Connections Made at Wharton EMBA Women’s Networking Event
Wharton | San Francisco EMBA Students Build Bonds while Rafting
Wharton’s EMBA Program Teams up with San Francisco Giants for Women’s Networking Reception
Wharton’s Residential MBA Exec Program: ‘A Communal Versus Commuter Feel’