Oct 3, 2022
Passionate about volunteering and bringing positive change to her work, Mikayla recently graduated from the BBA program. We sat down with her to learn about her time at Langara and plans for the future.
Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Hi, I’m Mikayla, a BC native and can arguably say that BC is the best province in Canada. I am a recent graduate of Langara School of Management and this year received my Bachelor of Business Administration in Business Management with a co-op education distinction. I work at Accenture as a Management Consulting Analyst in their Strategy and Consulting practice. At Accenture, I partner with our clients to help solve their business problems and advise on key strategies to help save money or increase profitability. In my spare time, I enjoy baking as well as playing tennis and volleyball.
What brought you to Langara in 2016 and why did you choose Langara School of Management for your education?
When deciding on a university/college, I wanted to make sure that the institution I chose checked all my boxes. I looked for firsthand advice from those who had attended schools across BC. I realized that the conversations I had with students who attended Langara always seemed to draw back to the sense of community that the College has among its students. This sense of belonging was one of the major reasons I chose Langara, together with the great academics, volunteering and community service opportunities, and affordability.
A quote that has always stayed with me since my first orientation week was, “Though we are small, our community and heart make us strong.”
What are you most proud of from your Langara experience?
While completing my undergrad, I was fortunate enough to complete 4-co-ops/internships terms, 2 at the government of Canada in Procurement, one at Accenture in consulting, and another one at Flipp, a retail technology company in Toronto.
I was also honoured to receive a few awards for my commitment to co-op, including 2021 Langara Co-op Student of the Year Award and the ACE-WIL BC/Yukon 2021 Student of the Year Award. This will forever be one of my favourite times in my life and something I am truly proud of during my time at Langara.
Where do you work now and how did your education prepare you?
I currently work at Accenture as a Management Consulting Analyst and is my first job after completing my undergrad. My education prepared me for this job in ways that I couldn’t imagine. One great thing about Langara is the relevance of the coursework and projects in the corporate world. The practical, hands-on experience that I had and my co-op experiences gave me the knowledge I need to succeed at my current job and any challenges that may come my way.
"The practical, hands-on experience that I had and my co-op experiences gave me the knowledge I need to succeed at my current job and any challenges that may come my way."
What key skills did you learn through your program that you found most useful in your position?
A key piece of knowledge that I learned and that has proven time and time again to be particularly useful is problem-solving frameworks. On the job, you are always faced with different challenges or problems that need to be solved, and you may not even know where to start in solving a problem.
In situations of ambiguity, it is important to approach problems in a structured and logical manner, helping to extract the most thorough and well-rounded answers. Using frameworks has allowed me to consider angles to a problem I would not have thought of and solve problems I didn’t think I could tackle. Learning this has been a real game changer, and I truly believe that it is one of the most powerful bits of knowledge you can take away from your education.
How do you stay connected with your fellow Langarans?
I think social media is the best way to stay connected. I use LinkedIn to talk with my friends from Langara and have joined the alumni groups online. A piece of advice I was given early in my career is that your network is your net worth. It is incredibly crucial to network and stay connected with your peers as you both progress through your careers. This not only helps to build each other up but also a strong alumni network at Langara.
If you could pass along one message or piece of advice to our future LSM grads?
Be actively engaged and involved in your career and education. At the end of the day, you are the only one driving your career, and in order to be successful, it is important to stay active in your journey. In the end, whatever energy you put in, you will get out of it. Something that I have always heard and that has stuck with me, is that results are almost always found outside of your comfort zone so in order to get the most of the program, career or life, it’s important to start being comfortable with being uncomfortable.