Prior to life in the MBA, Brett Havens spent his free time mountain biking, camping, and hiking. Brett is now a first-year MBA student, and those activities have been replaced with studying, consulting, participating in a case competition, and catching up on sleep! It has not taken Brett long to become very involved in the program.

Armed with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Illinois at Springfield and a desire to make a difference, Brett joined a Leadership Development Program at Kinko’s and had the opportunity to spend time at the headquarters in Dallas, Tex., learning everything from strategic financial operations to HR and risk management. After training, he moved into a field operations role and was responsible for a site in downtown Chicago. From there he moved to Milwaukee, Wis., for a position that later led to a multi-site management role.

Brett says the best part of the program has been the interaction with classmates, especially those from other countries: “I feel like every conversation is a free trip to another country with all the learning and none of the jet lag!” Brett added that the biggest challenge of adjusting to life in the MBA has been managing time. “Obviously the workload is intense, but beyond that there are an enormous number of extracurricular opportunities that compete for my attention,” he says.

After completion of the Illinois MBA, Brett hopes to be able to apply the knowledge he has learned to a position in finance or supply chain management. He is also looking forward to starting a family at some point after graduation.