Student Profile: New Challenges

Bryce Hall '12
President, Student Government
Post-MBA position: McKinsey & Company

Before coming to Yale SOM, I produced and wrote programs for the History Channel and the Discovery Channel, and was able to travel around the world and have some pretty extraordinary experiences. I produced a program with the president of Ghana, and was invited back to produce media for a presidential election there. It made me realize that I can have an impact in the world, and made me start thinking about coming to business school, because I knew that I would need a different set of skills to work on bigger challenges, like protecting the environment and expanding renewable energy.

My sister, Morgan, was a member of the Yale SOM Class of 2010, and she was my first introduction to the school. She would light up talking about new concepts and ideas she was learning. The other thing that impressed me was meeting her friends—among her group of friends was an architect, someone who had produced media, teachers, and people who had worked in healthcare.

That eclectic nature really defines this place. People come here with all different backgrounds, and with a wide range of things that they want to do when they graduate. It really enriches the experience. Classroom discussions are so interactive and dynamic here, and the diversity of backgrounds means that whatever case we're studying, there will be people in the class who have worked in that sector or worked in that country, or have insights from their time in law school or med school.

One of my favorite core classes was Innovator, which looks at creative processes within companies and how innovation happens. That class fundamentally changed the way I think about design and innovation and helped me understand that there are ways to structure organizations to make innovation much more likely.

Another really important part of the first year for me was the International Experience. Twenty-five of my classmates and I traveled to India with one of our professors, and we met with a wide range of companies across different sectors. One of them was Suzlon, which is a global wind energy company. I met some people at Suzlon, and later contacted them and ended up getting a summer internship in their Chicago office. I got to work on a project for the CEO of North America, learn about the wind industry, and use some of the skills I developed this past year. It was incredible, and I wouldn't have had that experience if it hadn't been for the International Experience trip.

Yale SOM has broadened my horizons in ways I couldn't have predicted when I decided to come here. Next year I'll be working at McKinsey. I'm thrilled about the opportunity and excited to work on projects with some of their renewable energy, clean tech, and public sector clients.

Interviewed on November 10, 2011.