Margaret Rocca, ’24 MS in Supply Chain Management: Turning Supply Chain Passion into New Possibilities
Tuesday, December 17, 2024
Program
’24 MS in Supply Chain Management
Hometown
Plymouth, MN
Fun Fact:
I have been on two yoga and surf retreats
Undergraduate School and Major:
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Marketing and Supply Chain Management
Current Job Title and Employer
General Mills, Manufacturing Business Lead
Meet the Carlson School community and learn about the experiences and career connections we offer.
What was your initial reason or motivation for pursuing an MS in Supply Chain Management?
I was six years into my supply chain career and knew supply chain was my passion. In addition, I was interested in pivoting into a new industry. I believed that obtaining my master’s was a great opportunity to expand my supply chain management knowledge along with providing myself an opportunity to network with others in different industries to find a good fit for my next supply chain role.
Why did you choose the Carlson School?
After ten years living out of state, I was ready to move back home to the amazing state of Minnesota with my boyfriend, and I knew the Carlson School was a great school with both renowned students and faculty. I also did a lot of research on supply chain management master’s programs, and the Carlson School was known as a very strong program with diverse course content and real-life supply chain management opportunities. After getting accepted to the MS in Supply Chain Management program, it was an easy yes!
What has been or was your most valuable Carlson School experience or lesson?
The most valuable experience during the program was our experiential learning project with Second Harvest Heartland (SHH) at the end of the first semester. SHH is a leading hunger relief organization in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, and we were given the opportunity to propose supply chain management–related performance metrics that would help the SHH warehouse run more efficiently. This project was challenging since SHH is a nonprofit, so we had to be strategic through low-budget proposals. Realizing the impact of our work was so meaningful since many of our cohort worked at for-profit companies, knowing that if SHH can be more strategic with their metrics, they can feed more hungry people every day. This is the impact supply chain professionals can have!
I seriously had a whole Carlson School community behind me during my job search, and I would not trade that for anything! Thank you to the Carlson School community for being a part of my journey of landing my current job at General Mills.
How has your Carlson School experience helped you change your career path and get to where you are?
My Carlson School experience helped me greatly as I was networking to land a job throughout the master’s program and used all of the resources at the school to do so strategically. I received help from the Carlson Business Career Center, guest speakers during classes, fellow cohort members, cohort alumni, and amazing professors. I seriously had a whole Carlson School community behind me during my job search, and I would not trade that for anything! Thank you to the Carlson School community for being a part of my journey of landing my current job at General Mills.
What advice would you give to help potential applicants gain admission into Carlson’s MS in Supply Chain Management program?
I recommend taking full advantage of the program by:
- Putting any distractions like your phone away during lectures so you can devote your full attention to whoever is presenting. There is always something you can learn!
- Forming strong relationships with your cohort right away! They are your support system throughout the program, and you can learn from their diverse experiences.
- Make sure you enjoy the journey! The program is intense, but do not forget why you are there—to learn about a subject you are passionate about.
- Do not get too hard on yourself if you do not get a perfect grade. Remember, you are doing the program to learn and use what you have learned in your career.
- Utilizing your Carlson School network. Especially cohort alumni like me. We are all here to help!
