Student Sportlight: Jason Roberts ’15

Jason Roberts, Evening MBA Class of 2015

Age: 33
Graduation Year: 2015
Profession: Program Manager

What has been your most valuable academic experience at Foster?
Although I’ve found something in every class to apply to my job directly, I think the most valuable academic experience at foster has been valuing projects from corporate finances, particularly projects with reasonably long timelines.  It has given me a framework to quantify trade-offs that used to be made from ‘gut feel’.  These lessons have been immediately applicable to both my professional life and my personal life.

How are you involved with Foster outside of the classroom?
I’ve participated in case competitions, visiting speakers, and the weekly happy hour.

What lead you to pursue and MBA?
I had a strong background in technology and so I felt I was reasonably strong on my ‘depth’ skills, but as almost all of my formal education and work experience was in Computer Science, I wanted to establish a wider breadth of knowledge to develop into a more ‘T-shaped’ individual.

What is the most valuable lesson you have learned at Foster?
The value of a strong personal network cannot be understated, Since moving to Seattle in ’05 most of my network are people that had grown out of connections through work, which led to a reasonably heterogeneous set.  Foster has given me an opportunity to directly meet many more diverse people, and an opportunity to reach out to those I haven’t met, but share the Foster bond with.