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Caroline Gentry is Senior Director, Environmental Products at Anew and a University of Sussex Business School alumna (Sussex MBA 2021). With over 20 years’ experience in energy and environmental attribute markets and six years in the UK as an independent consultant, she recently returned to Houston, USA. Caroline tells us what inspired her to take an MBA and how it’s boosted her career mid-life.

I was at a crossroads in both my career and life before I joined the Sussex MBA. I studied Russian and Soviet Studies at university but after several years in low-level jobs, I felt pursuing a career based on speaking a particular language was not taking me in the right direction. I made a few sideways jumps from entry-level investment banking to journalism which led me to an energy markets price reporting agency, where I worked for 17 years and triggered a passion for environmental markets such as carbon cap and trade and renewables.

I had considered doing an MBA for a while but with a full-time job and then a single mother to two kids, I just couldn’t find the time. I had to move back to the UK to help look after my elderly parents. My age and lack of postgraduate degree began to seem like a big barrier to finding a suitable job. I was over-qualified for junior positions, but not qualified enough for senior positions, many of which demanded a Masters even to apply. I freelanced as a consultant for a couple of years but finally decided I would take the plunge and go back to being a full-time student at the age of nearly 50.

I chose Sussex because it was the highest-ranking business school within a reasonable travel distance. I didn’t want to do distance learning, as I thrive on being around people for motivation. I had also been to the campus with a previous job so was familiar with it. And who doesn’t love Brighton?

My course started in October 2020, when the country had not yet completely opened after the pandemic. Overall, I felt the lecturers adapted well to the hybrid in person/online approach to teaching. Working together in small teams on presentations with minimal time to prepare was also great fun and helped me understand my strengths and weaknesses in group settings. Passing the accountancy exam was a huge triumph as I thought that’s where I would struggle the most.

We could pick subjects that interested us, and some of the lecturers covered contemporary events and recent company case studies. I was lucky to have a fantastic supervisor for my dissertation who was instrumental in helping me achieve a distinction overall for the course.

The highlight for me was being surrounded by people from different cultures and when our Indian cohorts dressed up for the Diwali Festival of Lights, we brought in refreshments and danced after class.

It was rewarding to go back to studying and feeling like I was investing in myself after years of feeling undervalued and an increasing sense of imposter syndrome. Having an MBA gave me the confidence to apply for a job I may not have done otherwise on moving back to the USA. There have been several occasions where I have been able to follow conversations or perform tasks that I would not have done a couple of years ago – net present value for example!

My advice for a new or prospective MBA student is that it’s much more interesting than it sounds. If I could go back, I would have applied the year before and done it over two years part-time. There is so much other reading, I needed more time in between modules, and I could have made more use of the Business School resources and free training.

Speak up in class and take part in presentations as much as you can. The real value is not just the academic learning but the practical application of the management skills that you will take away.

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