January 2016 MBA Mama of the Month

We are kicking off our 2016 series of MBA Mama of the Month by featuring Jennifer Sepulveda, a 1st year MBA student at Columbia Business School. For those of you who are not familiar with MBA MoTM (mama of the month), this is a special honor featuring outstanding, inspirational, powerhouse MBA moms who are rocking their roles as mamas and excelling academically and professionally.

Jennifer was born in the Dominican Republic and grew up in New York where she attended SUNY — New Paltz for her first three years of college. She took one year off to give birth to her daughter, Jenelle, who is now a fashionable eight year old who loves steak and friends. After spending one year breastfeeding, caring for, and bonding, with Jenelle, Jennifer transferred to CUNY Baruch College where she graduated with a BBA in Finance.

Prior to business school, Jennifer spent 5 years at Deloitte Consulting LLP in NYC. She is an alumnae of MLT’s MBA Prep Program and is licensed as a Project Management Professional (PMP). I met Jennifer during MLT and we instantly bonded over our shared status as future MBA moms.

Like me, Jennifer makes up a small, but mighty, part of the MBA Mama community — single moms at top MBA programs. Without additional support that comes when you have a partner and the added stress of co-parenting, Jennifer admits that she struggled with the decision to go to school full-time or part-time. From her perspective, making the decision to stop working and attend school full-time is incredibly difficult for parents, especially single mothers. Ultimately, Jennifer decided that, as a career switcher, having a demanding job, being a mom and going to school part-time would be tougher than committing to a full-time program and giving her daughter the attention she needs. Next week, we will share more from Jennifer as she gives us the inside scoop on how she survived her first semester at CBS.