If you’ve looked at the application to Goizueta even once, you’ve heard about the Core Values. The below is excerpted from a presentation to the full-time class before the presentation of our Good Apple Awards (recognition of students by students based on the Core Values.) It was written and presented by a member of the Core Values Council, Sarah Langville MBA10, and we thought it’d be great to share the background with everyone. Enjoy!

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So where did Goizueta Business School’s 7 Core Values come from?

The students.

In 2002, full-time Goizueta MBA students brainstormed a list of values to show what we stand for with the support of their program office.  Post-its covered the walls of Emory’s Cox Hall ballroom, but what they boiled down to were 7 Core Values – Courage, Integrity, Accountability, Rigor, Diversity, Team, and Community.

The last three values form the foundation of our beliefs and Rigor connects us to the ever-inspiring values of Courage, Integrity, and Accountability.  The Goizueta Business School truly embodies these values throughout the MBA experience.  It begins with recruitment and admissions, and then welcomes you in the entrance way of the MBA building.  You see these values in current students at orientation, the development of student teams, and even through recognition at graduation.  Goizueta defines itself by these values and demonstrates it each day.

One of the more popular classes at Goizueta is Patrick Noonan’s Strategic Decision Analysis. The class is primarily one on game theory and is taken by students in every concentration – from finance to marketing to human capital and healthcare. Professor Noonan teases that this is a course where he teaches students to be Jedis.

In addition to classwork and other assignments, every class member puts together an “application portfolio,” or a series of articles and pieces of interest that apply to the subjects covered in the course. A number of students post their application portfolio via blog. Since I’ve also started one, I thought I would share the blog here, especially since I’ve included a list to many of my classmates’ blogs. Enjoy!

Kate’s SDA Blog

As we all get back into the swing of things, some of us longer than others, it is interesting to reflect on what everyone did before they were back at GBS.  Some of us were working while others were in school, and others were preparing for their new journey at GBS…we hope this really celebrates our diversity, and welcomes everyone back for a great year!

We also want to take this time to welcome our new bloggers, and invite our readers to an exciting year of insights from Voice of GBS.

“I worked at GE Money and bought a car!”

-Hazel V.

“I hung out on a beach in Greece…”

-Ian R.

“I worked in a law firm in NYC.”

-Jonathan G.

“Quit my job, chilled out, and moved to Atlanta!”

-Jim P.

“I traveled in Montana and Calgary and went hiking.  I also attempted world peace, and tried to improve the stock market….the latter seems to have worked!”

-Veronica M.

“I visited 3 major cities on business.  Went through an airport security line twice in one trip.  And hit up a cool NYC rooftop for Happy Hour.”

-Dave C.

“I was in Atlanta working at Coke, and I attended a family wedding in Vegas.”

-Nick A.

“As an exchange student, I had to do something since I was not going to intern.  So I took classes in Negotiations and Finance this summer.”

-Quan D.

“We were in school – we worked a lot.  We slept a little.”

-One-Year Guys

“I was here in Atlanta and went to a lake for a weekend.”

-Deborah N.

“I took Guitar lessons.”

-Chirag T.

“I took a 2 month vacation around Venezuela.”

-Ezekial Z.

“I went scuba diving in Columbia.”

-Felipe P.

“Vegas.”

-Brandon L.

“I traveled for 43 days through Central and Eastern Europe!”

-Duke U.

“I worked at UBS and hung out in NY 3 times!”

-Andrew K.

“I traveled for 8 out of 11 weekends of my internship, very tiring, but very fun.”

-Parul L.

So Rule # 1 for international travel: Don’t lose your wallet going through security when you’re halfway around the world. After filing a police report I proceeded back to the gate where my flight to depart to Dubai from Frankfurt was set to leave. After landing in Dubai I had to figure out how to get from Dubai International Airport to the Holiday Inn without any money or credit cards. Fortunately, I was able to arrange for my cab fare once I made it to the hotel.

Our first day in Dubai we visited Jameira Mosque, the site of the oldest mosque in Dubai. After learning how Muslim men and women pray and interact in the mosque we did the only thing that makes sense to enrich our understanding of the spiritual journey of Muslim believers: we headed to the mall. Aside from the massive ski slope in the mall, the Mall of Dubai was just like any American mall.

Now for the secret motivation and major highlight for everyone on the trip: partying on New Year’s Eve in Dubai. Thanks to Aaron Kunney we received royal treatment at our late nightspot, Lotus. Throughout the evening we were served great hors d’oeuvres and even received party favors to complement the great music.

The 2009 Dubai/Cairo group

Upon arriving in Cairo on New Year’s Day we were greeted by a different climate. Whereas in Dubai security was never an issue and in many ways the culture was akin to that in the U.S., Cairo was conspicuously different. The first clue that we were in a different environment was when the bus pulled into the hotel and before passing through to drop us off, the bus was circled by a bomb-sniffing canine to ensure the bus was safe to enter. In addition each time we returned to the hotel we were required to pass through the metal detectors located at each entrance.

Day one in Cairo brought the unbelievable experience of visiting the Egyptian museum where the burial treasures of Tutankhamen and other Egyptian Pharaohs such as Ahkenaten and Ramses II are displayed. After taking us through a tour of the Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom and New Kingdom displays we prepared for the treat of visiting the Pyramids at Giza. After a short trip through the city to Giza we were able to view the three famous structures from different vantage points, take pictures on the big pyramid and even venture inside the second pyramid. The inside was pretty humid and certainly not designed for those affected by claustrophobia. Shortly thereafter we moved to the Sphinx and heard the history behind its purpose and how the country’s many invaders defiled it.

The next day in Cairo was spent visiting the Mansour Group, the affiliate for companies such as Phillip Morris, McDonald’s and Caterpillar. In addition to handling the distribution for Phillip Morris, the company also handles the advertising and servicing of the different retail accounts. Most intriguing was the fact that company was that 50% of all Egyptian males were smokers, allowing for the company to experience 40% growth in a society where no tobacco-product advertising was allowed.

The remainder of our time in Egypt was split between visiting companies such as Mars, a local advertising agency, and more sightseeing. We even took a daytrip to the beautiful coastal city of Alexandria. By the trip’s end I felt I had received a full cultural immersion into the workings of Cairo, including negotiating at the local market, conversing with the cab drivers about the Gaza conflict and even navigating my way through the perilous task of finding an operational Western Union in a city of 22 million people where apparently the lion’s share receive assistance from family members outside of the country. In the end I enjoyed an unbelievable cultural experience, ate some unbelieveable food and got the chance to know a group of Goizuetans that I don’t always have the chance to interact with closely everyday.

Western Union to Cairo from Columbus, OH: $100

Cost of a taxi-ride to hang out in Cairo: 30 Egyptian Pounds

Losing your wallet halfway around the world and forging lifelong friendships: Priceless.

Happy Thanksgiving from the Goizueta League of Blogging Efforts!

For people who are new to the school, you can’t imagine how I feel when I realized I only have 4 –month school life left. The graduation is 6 months away but if you don’t count the winter break and other holidays, I have literally 4 months left at Goizueta, which might be the last school I will attend in my life!

Being curious is the thing which keeps me up and walking out of my way to learn. I like the quote from Albert Einstein, “life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you have to keep moving.” However, at this moment, I think I would like to stop for a while, to enjoy the beauty around me. The leaves are turning red, which makes driving to school more pleasant despite the traffic. People around me are getting closer to me, which makes me stand still in difficult times. I am getting more mature and intelligent, which makes the discussion in class more fun.

I was worried about school projects, I was worried about the economy, I was worried about finding a job, and I was worried about not knowing enough before graduation. I am not worried about anything now, since worries won’t help. The real thing I want to get out of my MBA is not only a job, but knowing about myself and the people around me. The job I will do in the future is part of me, the friends I have here are part of me, the knowledge I get here is part of me, and even the traveling experience I get here is part of me. A professor organized a panel yesterday to talk to students about future careers. One of the questions was— what would you be doing if you were in b-school now? Panelists mentioned being well-rounded, taking more challenges, travelling more, figuring out what makes you happy. None of it was related to “finding a job.” Isn’t it amazing? Sometimes we might put so much attention on something and forget what is more important.

As an international student, coming to Goizueta, coming to Atlanta, coming to the US for getting my MBA is probably a big decision, and I wouldn’t want to make “getting a job” the only purpose of this big decision although it’s a very important reason for most of people who want a MBA degree. I want more.

As time goes by, I know I will have to find my future career, but before that, I think I would like to spend more time finding what makes myself happy and what I really want to do in the long run. I have 4 months left.