Hyo Lee Chung

Home country: Mexico

Home state: Mexico City

Undergraduate institution: University of Wisconsin-Madison

Undergraduate degree and major (and minor, if applicable): International political economy

Pre-MBA industry: Technology

Pre-MBA company: Samsung Electronics

Pre-MBA title: FP&A Jr. Manager

Desired industry post-MBA: VC/PE, corporate finance

Desired job function post-MBA: Investing/business development

Degree specializations: Finance

Student organization membership: Beer Club, Finance Association, Latin Business Student Association, Other

Other committee: Rice Business Student Association (RBSA), Arts Club

Officer: RBSA first-year student representative, RBSA VP-elect for 2024-2025

What has been the most surprising part of your Rice MBA? I was surprised that all core classes are very closely related and coordinated. When I first saw the curriculum, I thought we would be taking many separate courses that are critical for business. Data analysis, accounting, finance, and organizational behavior all sound like different subjects with unrelated themes. However, professors did unbelievably amazing work and arranged all course schedules among themselves, which ultimately made all classes related. Thus, even though I was taking a core finance class, I always gained insight about data analysis and organizational behavior at the same time. Honestly, I did not expect this deep experience of taking one whole "core" course and getting prepared in every aspect of business.

What has been your favorite thing about your MBA experience? There are two things that I love most. First is the Partio. Every Thursday party is truly an essence of networking within the MBA program and relieves a lot of stress. From there, I have built rock-solid relationships with my colleagues, as well as gotten to know various second-year students. Second is my RBSA participation. As RBSA first-year rep, I participated in every RBSA meeting addressing current issues of the MBA and how we cope with them. Further, that brought me to the VP election, and I was successful. It was an amazing experience to think about how I can contribute to the MBA.

What do you love most about Houston? There are many things, but if I must say one thing, it is a city with an amazing diversity of food. From here, I visited restaurants that never existed in Mexico or elsewhere, and still, I have tons of lists of restaurants I have yet to visit!

What is one piece of advice you would share with a prospective student? Please be positive and show us the real you. I was in those shoes, but in the end, if you are in, it is "you" that all other people want to know.