Originally from Beijing, China, MBA student Alicia Zheng relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2024 when her husband began a postdoctoral role in a research lab. After nearly two decades in corporate finance, the move gave her something rare: time to pause and reflect on what she really wanted from her career. For Alicia, that answer was the Oregon MBA.
In her finance career, Alicia built deep expertise in resource allocation, data analytics, and financial modeling, serving as a financial expert in business partnerships. But over time, she recognized a gap. The toughest business decisions involve far more than numbers, and she wanted the tools to navigate that complexity.
"Financial modeling alone cannot solve tough business problems," she explained. "I needed to understand the broader market to bring more value to my expertise."
Alicia was drawn to the University of Oregon specifically for its specializations and applied learning opportunities. She was especially interested in the Warsaw Sports Business Center, yet it was a sustainable business practices course with Professor John Davis that helped her find her niche. The course inspired Alicia to focus on social impact and how organizations can generate social value while achieving sustainable financial results.
"I have a data analytics mindset," she shared. "I'm building a bridge in my mind between things like branding and marketing, generating social value, and sustainable financial returns. I'm actually seeing my previous experience come together with what I'm learning in the program."
Alicia's long-term goal is to help transform organizations so that creating social value is embedded into their core business model and mission. Adjusting to the Oregon MBA came with its own learning curve. Studying in a second language and adapting to new teaching styles were part of it, but the deeper challenge was navigating uncertainty. Growing up in China, the path forward always felt clear: get into a good school, get good grades, and get a good job.
"I'm training myself to know that it is okay not to be 100% perfect all the time," she admitted. "I'm shifting from being completely results-oriented to trusting the process and learning through experiences."
Some highlights of her experience so far include a winter experiential trip to Los Angeles, where a visit to Angel City FC brought the social impact of sports organizations to life, and a Professional Edge immersion with Two Sides Consulting, where students helped FOX analyze programming strategy for the 2026 World Cup.
After two terms, Alicia has become more comfortable speaking up in class, building relationships with professors and classmates, and embracing the questions she can't yet answer. She has also found a supportive community among her peers and built meaningful friendships along the way.
Outside of class, Alicia recharges through tennis, yoga, and running. More than anything, she is learning to trust her own path and what it means to grow through uncertainty. It’s a shift that continues to challenge her, but one she is learning to embrace.
—Megan Jessup-Varnum, Lundquist College Communications