Full-Time MBA Student Profile Erik Underwood, ’17
Associate, Marathon Capital, Chicago, IL
Hometown: San Juan, Puerto Rico
Education: Wesleyan University, Bachelor of Arts
Before Booth: Project Management, Mainstream Renewable Power
2016 Internship: Tesla, San Francisco, CA
Erik Underwood: 00:05
My name is Erik Underwood, and I was born in Puerto Rico, then grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I moved to Santiago, Chile, where I did project management in the wind energy and solar energy industry. When considering Booth, I was excited about merging my own energy background with other business fields. I wanted to experience other industries and understand other parts of the world and how they do business. One of the first things that I did in the fall was the Energy in Emerging Markets Case Competition. It was a case competition where we faced a problem of energy in an emerging market. I was really excited about this opportunity because it focused on a market that I wasn't familiar with, which was Eastern Africa. When I'm assessing which classes I want to take, I try to strike a balance between quantitative, case-based, and entrepreneurship.
Erik Underwood: 00:51
Took the Energy and Clean Tech Lab course. This was an exciting opportunity to really figure out how to grow a business and really hands-on in terms of establishing a business plan, understanding how to go to market and what the technology challenges were that we'd face. I think that it's great that you can go in and really dive deep into other areas that might not be something that you're used to in your own industry. I think the most important thing when you're considering getting an MBA is how much you want to get out of it and where you want to go afterwards. A lot of times you're thinking about just getting the next step in your career or a promotion, when in reality, this is a great opportunity to reevaluate your own plan and where you want your life to go.
Describe the Booth Community
A lot of students are really eager to be able to support each other through career transitions or accelerations within industries. People are really supportive with their time and energy in helping people make these types of career changes.
The Classroom Experience
One of the things I really enjoy is the quality of the professors. I've been overwhelmed by how engaging they are and how open they are to questions and feedback. They encourage students to challenge each other's assumptions.