Jerzy, Malgosia & Philip Michniewicz:

First of all, please notice, and we would like to confirm, that the first baby of the MBA Program is Philip. He was a student from his very first days of his life. He listened to all of the courses and worked very hard with us at home. He should also graduate from Georgia State as well as from Poznan School of Economics.

We are both employed by the same corporation, B. Braun Medical. Malgosia runs the customer service department. She is currently on baby-sitting vacation. I have the pleasure of running the marketing and sales department of our surgical instruments division.

We think that after receiving our MBA degrees, we will remain in our positions with the company. The course has given us another approach to the subject and what is going on in different departments. We both lack business backgrounds. Malgosia is a lawyer, I am a medical doctor. We both have been interested in self-educating ourselves in business. Hearing and studying the sciences directly connected with business has increased our self-confidence and judgment about everything that we do in our common day and professional life.

Definitely, we found the courses interesting in sciences not directly connected in our cases with marketing. I found a lot of things, especially in corporate finance, decision analysis, strategic management, macro and microeconomics very interesting. I think that the decision taken two years ago regarding participation in this course was the best decision we have made during the last two years. Unfortunately, from a purely financial point of view, it was not cheap. All the fees related to the course, we have paid by ourselves without any assistance from our company. We are glad we have made it.

What is our future?
Definitely, it is easier to find a job with the MBA certificate than without it. Especially in business, having another university background.

Our future is rather bright. In today's job market, we can easily get a well-paid position practically within a few days.

It is a growing demand for educated people in Poland and in Europe. Having common day contacts with our partners in the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom, we feel really confident exchanging our business experiences as well as information.

Well, finally, you have all done a great job establishing this MBA program in Poland. As every business, it has to grow and develop. It will take a few years. Afterwards, we think it will gain the top level in international standards. During the two years of this course, we felt a little like guinea pigs, but it was a risk we have taken and finally we are satisfied. The very first time is always difficult isn't it?

Ewelina Rabsztyn, 27, living in Poznan. Graduate of the English Department at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan (1995):

Thanks to the MBA program, I developed understanding of what business and management are all about, which is extremely useful in my present job as an assistant to the managing director, an administration manager and PR coordinator in one. Strategic and macroeconomic issues, as well as psychological aspects of business (HRM, Marketing) are the most interesting to me, which is only natural as my educational background is focused on the humanities. My key assets: language and communication skills have been significantly strengthened through the MBA program. I am now more confident in the business environment, especially when facilitating communication of top management issues across cultures. I am looking forward to further learning and utilizing my management potential in the future. Since February of this year, I have been working for a newly privatized FMCG company (fruit and vegetable products), in which the majority share has been acquired by a Norwegian company, Orkla Foods, part of the Orkla concern. It has been a constant thrill to be able to contribute to the process of transforming the organizational culture of a state-owned enterprise into the culture of a private company.

I want to emphasize that I am very happy to have been an MBA student for the last two years. I enjoyed it all, but I especially appreciated the lectures given by Georgia State visiting professors. It is exciting to see the American and Polish educational patterns and business philosophies merge within the program.

Krzysztof Kolodziejczyk, a 29-year-old computer scientist who lives in Poznan and works as a sales representative at one of the Polish trading companies:

Although I had gained some sort of professional experience, I always thought that I lacked a theoretical business background. For this reason, I decided to enroll in a business program and I chose the MBA program organized at the University of Economics in Poznan in cooperation with Georgia State University of Atlanta. Today, after two years of studying, I can honestly admit it has been my best choice because of a wide range of programs, excellent teachers and teaching methods, a loving atmosphere of the program which, no doubt, has helped me to both acquire the business knowledge and boost my self-confidence in the world of business. As I do not use the acquired skills at my present job, I have decided to look for a much more challenging job upon finishing the MBA program. Thus, I am absolutely convinced that the MBA program will lay groundwork for my future career advancement.

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