MBA student makes the most out of her undergraduate, graduate experience
Kaylin Patterson, an MBA student from Colorado Springs, Colorado, has had an eventful five years at KU. She’s made the most out of her time, with activities ranging from recruiting prospective students to having her photography showcased in the Kansas Union Gallery.
Coming from a small high school with a graduating class of 27, Patterson knew she wanted to branch out. While searching for an out-of-state school with acclaimed research programs, KU was on her mind. Her tours on campus inspired her to enroll, where she pursued a bachelor's degree in psychology with minors in Spanish and business.
“I really enjoyed the research aspect of psychology and getting to work with people,” Patterson said. “Spanish has also always been a passion of mine. I won an award for Spanish in high school and studied abroad for Spanish in high school. It’s always been a huge part of my life, and I wanted to have that be another field of study.”
While earning her undergraduate degree, she participated in intramural volleyball, an on-campus Spanish-speaking club and, for the last four years, has worked as a student ambassador for KU Admissions. She cited trips to tour KU in high school as what drew her to ambassadorship and loves getting to speak Spanish on some of her tours.
“Even though there was no one on campus, it still felt different,” Patterson said. “I fell in love with KU. Working as a student ambassador and getting to talk to students about the student experience and how KU was the light at the end of the tunnel after COVID is super helpful. I love getting to meet people from all over the country.”
To round out her senior year, Patterson studied abroad in Barcelona, taking classes in a full-immersion setting. She was constantly speaking Spanish with the people around her and spent her weekends traveling across Europe. She traveled to Hungary, Austria and Switzerland and got to see the Carnival in Spain.
“Living in Barcelona enriched my language skills more than anything,” Patterson said. “It gave me a new sense of independence and, it being my senior year, made me look forward to having more independence as I ended college.”
Patterson always knew that her end goal was business, so she decided to pursue the MBA program upon graduation. Her goal is to go into consulting or account management upon graduation in December. She hopes to continue working one-on-one with people, drawing on her experience studying psychology.
Additionally, she interned with D. H. Pace Co. as an account manager intern the summer before her senior year as part of her business minor. She gained experience working one-on-one with contractors and experience calculating profit origins with the finance team. She will join Spotlight Analyst Relations as a sales and engagement intern this summer.
“I was already part of the business school and had taken a lot of fundamental classes that were all related to each other,” Patterson said. “Even though the course material is harder and takes longer to study, I can go between different classes, like supply chain to finance negotiations, and apply the same things. Being able to take what I’ve learned from my previous classes and internship experience and apply it in a more in-depth field of study has been really helpful and exciting.”
Over winter break, Patterson traveled back to Colorado to participate in the University of Denver’s Race and Case competition, where she represented the KU MBA program and presented to Breakthru Beverage Group about marketing to Gen Z consumers. The competition took place in Denver before they spent two nights in Breckenridge skiing. One race counted towards 10% of their final placing in the competition.
“I’ve been skiing since I was four,” Patterson said. “I had never done a case competition previously, so getting to do that through the MBA program was super exciting. Getting to do it on my home turf was even better.”
Photography has also been a passion for Patterson since childhood. Growing up in Colorado shaped her strong connection to nature, as she often found herself outdoors, which in turn led her to photograph wildlife and landscapes.
During her senior year, she got the opportunity to have her work shown in the Kansas Union Gallery via Student Union Activities.
After being selected for the two-week exhibition and sharing some of her favorite works, she went on to submit three pieces to LibArt, a yearlong campus library exhibition. Currently, three of her works are showcased in Watson Library, Anschutz Library and the Murphy Art & Architecture Library.
“A lot of the time, whether it’s photography or painting, you don’t want to be judged for it or have someone not like it, so it can feel like you’re taking a risk putting it out there,” Patterson said. “I think the more of your art you share, the more you grow with it. LibArt was a unique opportunity to show my work for free and to be able to have my artwork across campus in spaces that students use every day.”
If she could offer any advice for her freshman-year self, it would be to consistently advocate for herself and to take advantage of every opportunity.
“I thought I had all the time in the world my freshman year; then I blinked, and I was a junior,” Patterson said. “If something’s important to you — for example, being involved in many different departments — take those classes and find ways to build those skills together in the field you want to go into. Take advantage of all the opportunities you can and savor it because it goes by fast.”