Katherine Knight
Marketing & Management Track
(Classics '08, Davidson College)
"How does a classics major from a small liberal arts college fare in a business program at a state university? For Katherine Knight (M.S. in Commerce ’09)—who graduated from Davidson College in 2008 with a degree in classics and who is now enrolled in the McIntire School of Commerce’s M.S. in Commerce Program—the answer is “really well.”
“Davidson is much smaller than U.Va.,” Knight says. “But being in a class with 43 people makes U.Va. seem very small to me, so it wasn’t really a big transition.” Moreover, she says, the program’s organizers went to great lengths to create an effective orientation process. “After the first couple of days, I think I knew everyone’s name,” she says. “It was really nice, especially for someone coming from my undergraduate background. I really felt like I was part of a community.”
And Knight says it’s not just the students who have made her feel at home at U.Va.: “The professors I’ve had have been wonderful,” she says. “They’re very accessible, and they’re fun to talk to about more than just class stuff.” In fact, Knight says, upon hearing about the program, she immediately emailed Professor of Management and M.S. in Commerce Program Director Ira Harris. “He got right back to me,” she says. “It was great to be able to communicate directly with him.”
But Knight has also found that the program, although small in size, is helping her work towards her larger goal of working in the public health sector. “All through my four years at Davidson,” she says, “I always knew that I wanted to work in public health—that was a constant.” Though she’s not yet sure in what capacity she’ll enter the field, Knight says she’s definitely interested in the business side of it. “The M.S. in Commerce Program has opened up a whole other aspect of public health for me to think about and has really given me the tools with which to think about it. I feel like I’m gaining the managerial skills and knowledge that will help me make a difference.”
Knight also says that the program’s Career Services office staff has done an outstanding job of helping her to focus on her ultimate career goal. “They’ve been wonderful about helping me remember what my interests are, why I’m here, and how I’d ultimately like to use those interests,” she says.
Knight’s message for potential students? “Entering the M.S. in Commerce Program was sort of a leap of faith for me,” she says. “But now, it’s so clear to me how much this extra knowledge and awareness will help me. I would have survived without it—but now I know that I’ll have so many more options. I won’t just have to take whatever job comes along.”