As a Michigan native, Angela Pulcini has \u201clots of fellow Spartans\u201d in the family. \u201cMy sons graduated from there, my sister\u2014it\u2019s nice to be part of that family,\u201d Angela says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While her\nfamily of Spartans \u201cdefinitely was a deciding factor\u201d in choosing Michigan\nState University for graduate school, Angela also \u201cwanted a school that had a\ngood reputation.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a working wife and mom with a demanding position in healthcare, Angela knew that a program with \u201conline features\u201d was also a must. Ultimately, she decided that the Master of Science in Management, Strategy and Leadership<\/a> (MSMSL), offered 100% online in a 20-month time frame, was the only program for her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAt first, I thought I was a little\ncrazy,\u201d Angela admits of her first few weeks in the program. \u201cI thought, \u2018this\ncan work; I just have to figure it out.\u2019 For me part of it was the weekends. I\nwould try to do things during the week, but work is unpredictable, so I just\nblocked out weekends, all day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe workload is significant; it\u2019s\nthat adjustment,\u201d she says. Angela found that adjusting to the \u201cheavy lift in\nthe beginning\u201d of her student journey meant re-prioritizing what\u2019s important\nand \u201ccarving out the time\u201d so that \u201cyou just become so good at time\nmanagement.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n As an online graduate student, Angela explains that \u201cwhen you have social events you find yourself cutting things short here or there\u2026you just have to sacrifice. And I would do it again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The short-term sacrifices Angela\nmade to keep up with the accelerated pace of the program pale in comparison to\nall she has gained from her online courses and classmates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe coursework is challenging\u2014in a\ngood<\/em> way,\u201d she emphasizes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Though she has a background in\nhuman resources, Angela found that \u201cthe HR classes, they weren\u2019t a cake walk,\nbut I had a frame of reference,\u201d while other courses dealt with areas of\nmanagement \u201ccompletely foreign to me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Negotiations course<\/a> \u201cscared me at first because we had to partner up with people and role play a situation, negotiate that,\u201d she explains. \u201cIt was tough and a little intimidating at first, but the ability to apply what you\u2019re reading and learning right away\u2014it\u2019s priceless.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Angela found working in groups with fellow online students spread across the globe to be \u201ca good component of the program but something that is a challenge,\u201d especially when one group member is working out of South Africa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe had to get time together to write a paper every week and we\u2019re in different time zones, and we\u2019re all working [full-time] too,\u201d she explains. \u201cSo, we had to figure out\u2026when do we have a full window when someone is not talking in the middle of the night?!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Besides putting into practice the team and time management skills needed to work in and manage a global team, the group component also helped Angela gain new perspectives on the coursework.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI really do feel like\u2026having people from different fields, a lot of military, law enforcement, some other people in healthcare, business\u2014big business, small business\u2014and the discussion boards where you interact with them, that I really learned a lot,\u201d she says of collaborating with her classmates. \u201cIt\u2019s amazing how from those discussion boards, you can carve out friendships.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even after graduating from the\nprogram, Angela has continued to cultivate those friendships and professional\nconnections. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere\u2019s about four people I still\nkeep in contact with, people that during the program I could reach out to and\nsay, \u2018Oh my gosh I\u2019m struggling with this paper; what did you think of this\nangle?\u2019\u201d she explains. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Each has a different professional\nbackground\u2014from military to education to human resources\u2014and offers \u201ca\ndifferent point of view.\u201d Says Angela: \u201cIt helps me to think in a different way\nabout things. They have a perspective that I hadn\u2019t thought about.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Learning from the diverse perspectives of her online classmates and diving into the challenging coursework that stretched her beyond her comfort level has led Angela to stretch herself in her career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A few months after earning her\ndegree, Angela moved into a new position with her current employer, Parkview\nHealth, going from director of human resources to director of provider\nservices. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI handle all things physicians and\nnurse practitioners need as part of their employment,\u201d she details. \u201cFrom\nrecruitment to retention\u2014their whole lifecycle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She says the new role \u201cis directly related to my application of what I\u2019ve learned in the program.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The quality of the MSMSL program,\nthe supportive online environment and the challenge to stretch beyond one\u2019s\nlimits is embodied by MSU\u2019s renowned faculty. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI really appreciated the quality of the program and the quality of the professors. I know I would not have gotten that out of some\u2026other programs,\u201d Angela says, reflecting on her MSU experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI felt like I did not sacrifice my\nlearning experience by being online. It was the same people teaching these\nclasses to the [students] on campus, and with their background, they\u2019re\nrenowned in their field. You get that level of expertise from the professors\u2026\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\nPrioritizing and Sacrificing <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Challenging Coursework, Changing Perspectives <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Enriching Collaboration, Lasting Connections <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Renowned Faculty, Renowned People<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n