When Maria Langbauer entered the Oregon Executive MBA program, she was hoping to develop skills to begin a nonprofit in her home country of Brazil. Over the course of the program and through its emphasis on self-reflection, she discovered a new passion—entrepreneurship. 

"The program [gave me] access to a lot of different individuals," Langbauer says, pointing out that UO also has an extensive network of alumni. "I was able to figure out that I was really drawn to fields of innovation, technology, and entrepreneurship."

For Langbauer, this has involved developing a business plan for a startup that manages private campgrounds, focusing on accessibility, that she hopes to pursue when she graduates this spring.

The fact that Langbauer did not have an undergraduate degree in business was never an obstacle.

"To me it was like being on an adventure where you're constantly trying new things to see if they fit with you," she says. "The professors make the concepts very easy for any student to understand, it doesn't matter what your background is."