Martin Merello, Oxford MBA Class of 2020
Age: 28
Hometown: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Undergraduate Institution and Major: Universidad Católica Argentina (U.C.A) – Industrial Engineering
Pre-MBA Work Experience (years, industry): 4 years in Healthcare Management Consulting
Why business school? Why now?
Although I have always wanted to pursue an MBA, I was waiting for the right moment to contextualize it to my interests. After working in healthcare consulting for more than 4 years and collaborating on other health-related projects in the public and non-profit sectors, I was finally sure what I wanted to get from my MBA and with what to combine it.
I have just finished an MSc in International Health and Tropical Medicine, and I think the MBA will give me the right framework to exploit all the technical knowledge I’ve acquired and apply it to both private and public initiatives.
I’m convinced that the future of Global Health will be marked by the efforts of responsible businesses towards a fair distribution of already-available resources and solutions. I believe that the MBA will help me act as a global-minded leader that could foster endeavors that target health and sustain the viability of citizenship.
Why Oxford? What factors figured most prominently into your decision of where to attend?
I’ve always looked for the meaningful side of businesses, particularly nowadays when society needs to focus on immediate issues such as climate change, emerging epidemics and inequality.
The Oxford MBA is focused on how to educate leaders that would face these problems and is grounded in hundreds of years of history that have shaped the way we see the world today. That combination of tradition, academic excellence, and purpose beyond just pure business, was what took me to Oxford.
What do you think is your most valuable or differentiating contribution to the Class of 2020?
I think my interests and professional background are somehow weird: an industrial engineer, who has finished an MSc in International Health and is now pursuing an MBA. Therefore, I think my academic background will contribute with a different lens when discussing major problems.
Also, my experience in different sectors in Latin America has given me perspective on how private and governmental visions have dichotomized scenarios, deadlocking and squandering precious resources in half-hearted attempts to tackle social problems. Including this perspective in the agenda for further discussion is really valuable and I hope it could help understand what responsible businesses really stands for.
Fun fact that didn’t get included on your application?
I once had an “ice-cream roll” startup in Buenos Aires with a friend while studying at university. After one year trying to make it work, we decided to sell all the equipment because we couldn’t spend enough time working on it. Six months after that, a group of entrepreneurs that had been trying to implement the same idea were nominated by the government of Buenos Aires as the “best culinary idea of the year” and they now run a profitable business. No matter how sad it was back then, I now make fun of our bad timing!
Post-MBA career interests?
Definitely going back to the healthcare sector. I’m currently working at the World Health Organization in between my masters, and if not coming here after the MBA, I’ll try to join an organization that works with Private Public Partnerships in emerging countries helping to improve quality and access to healthcare.
Advice to current prospective applicants:
–One thing you would absolutely do again as part of your application process?
Leverage your real interests and think about what can make you a competitive candidate. In my case, as I mentioned before, I knew that being an engineer who was going to study public health and then start the MBA made me a unique profile for the school.
–One thing you would change or do differently?
Attend less official university events and speak more directly one-on-one with alumni. I think that only then you can realize what is the real profile of the school you are applying to.
–Part you would have skipped if you could—and what helped you get through it?
Taking the GMAT while working and writing essays. I think it was all about time management and being structured with your personal organization.
What is your initial impression of Oxford’s students/culture/community?
It’s an amazingly diverse and inspiring place, with people coming from all over the world who are looking for academic excellence in all different kinds of areas. There are plenty of opportunities to learn from them in college dinners, faculty conferences, rowing teams and many other activities.
Also, the traditions that have been kept and passed on by thousands of leaders that have shaped society are still present, and you can feel that everywhere in the university.
One thing you have learned about Oxford that has surprised you?
In between 1300 and 1500, when most of the colleges were built, a grove of oaks was planted to replace the beams in the dining halls when they became beetly, since all oak beams become beetly in the end. This plan has been passed down from one generation to the next for over seven hundred years saying “You don’t cut the oaks. They are for the College Halls.” Long-term thinking is what pulls emerging countries out of poverty, and I think I’m in the right place to learn it.
Thing you are most anxious about in your first year?
Agenda management – life at Oxford is known to be hectic.
Thing you are most excited about in your first year?
Engaging in different extracurricular activities and meeting people from different type of masters and PhDs.
