I came to MIT Sloan with raw hustle from Gaza Sky Geeks and Monstarlab. I learned by building programs, working in corp dev and product, and saying yes before I had the full playbook. That works until the stakes go up. Grad school is where I’m getting the hard edges right: accounting that reconciles, valuation that survives cross-examination, and clear writing that moves a room. The technical work matters because I want to be trusted on the numbers, especially in rooms where women are still outnumbered. It is also where I’m fixing pace and process. I used to grind alone. Asking for help felt like a weakness. Sloan broke that habit. I now have professors who mark up my work like partners and classmates who will challenge my logic and then rebuild it with me. That feedback loop makes me sharper in the moment and gives me a long-term network of women and allies I can call when the question is bigger than me. I plan to be that person for others too. In the near term, higher ed gives me a credible shot at the apprenticeships that build judgment fast: investment banking or asset management. I want real deadlines, real diligence, and the unglamorous reps, clean models, tight memos, and better questions. I want to learn how strong firms set standards, manage risk, and make decisions when data conflicts with the story. Those habits travel. Longer term, I am building toward Kintsu Capital, an investment platform focused on mid-sized companies in underserved and conflict-affected markets. I have seen how a steady logistics operator or payments rail can change the path of a city. To do this well at scale, I need both scars and systems, an underwriting playbook, operator networks, and the discipline to say no. Higher education is where I am assembling that kit and pressure-testing the thesis with people who care about evidence, not intentions. Being a woman in this field shapes how I plan to lead. I want to make space, not just take it. That means mentoring younger women, sharing real templates, opening deal rooms when I can, and building teams where asking for help is normal and high standards are non-negotiable. It also means negotiating for myself with the same rigor I would bring to a term sheet, because modeling the behavior matters. Practically, school gives me time to rebuild my operating system. I am getting better at managing energy, keeping promises to myself, and doing first-pass work fast without getting precious. Businesses do not fail only for lack of ideas. They fail on execution. I am using the MBA to get better at execution. The Marilynn Walker Memorial Scholarship would accelerate this work. Less time chasing stopgap funding means more time on the craft, classes, live models, and real conversations with people who will raise my game. I will pay it forward by pulling more women into the pipeline and by choosing work whose impact compounds. That is the goal: convert education into capability, capability into opportunity, and opportunity into durable, shared outcomes. I am doing the reps now so I can carry real weight later.