Following eight years of service in the Marine Corps, Forrest Seaman wanted to return to school and get an MBA. He found an MBA program tailored for veterans at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin.
For veterans, an MBA is more than just another academic pursuit. It’s a bridge to transitioning their unique skills and experiences from the battlefield to the boardroom.
Forrest Seaman is proud of his military background. When asked about his time in the Marine Corps, he beams as he recounts his global experiences.
“When I graduated from undergraduate college, I was commissioned in the Marine Corps,” he says. “I spent the last eight years in the Marine Corps in different general management operations roles in Quantico, Virginia, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, as well as about a year living in Okinawa, Japan which was really interesting.” (00:14)
Forrest’s time in the military gave him a chance “to do some wonderful things and meet some amazing people.” But after eight years in the Marine Corps, he wanted a fresh challenge. He wanted to pursue more intellectual and academic pursuits than he was used to in the military. (00:53)
When Forrest started thinking about the next stage of his life, the possibility of getting an MBA degree quickly rose to the top. He noticed several similarities between the business and military worlds. These transferable skills would give him solid ground from which to pursue an MBA.
“I thought an MBA, being able to be a leader in the business world like I had done in the military, was a really nice next step,” he says. (01:06)
When Forrest started searching for an MBA, his first criterion was a program with a strong veterans network. He found it at McCombs School of Business.
At Texas McCombs, the Texas Veterans in Business network is there to support ex-military members. It has a range of resources for veterans aimed at easing that transition. They include application fee waivers, scholarship information, and regular community events. It makes the program a great MBA for veterans looking to start a new chapter in life.
After receiving valuable support from the network, Forrest has since become an active member of Texas Veterans in Business. He now helps other veterans thinking of studying for an MBA to connect with Texas McCombs. His reason for doing it is simple, “Because I think veterans will do extremely well in the business world.” (10:58)
But he also found the school’s support network stretched beyond Texas Veterans in Business. According to Forrest, Texas McCombs has a collaborative atmosphere that allows everyone to flourish.
“Everybody supports each other in achieving their goals. Whatever you want to do here, the program office, the professors, [and] peers have supported me, and we support each other. It has been a really wonderful place to come to school every day for the first year.” (05:46)
On the face of it, you might not think business and the military have much in common. While the military conjures images of camouflage and barren environments, business often brings to mind neat suits and polished boardrooms.
But dig a little deeper and you’ll discover more similarities than you might’ve thought. For example, Forrest names leadership, communication, time management, strategy and decision-making as some of the shared transferable skills between domains.
“You’re never going to have a perfect decision, and you’re never going to have all the answers that you need,” he explains. “But you have to move forward with the information that you have at the time.” (04:29)
Forrest says that for ex-military, one of the biggest challenges in an MBA program is communication. Veterans have a distinct communication style, and Forrest has diligently refined his skills to adapt. More than anything, it’s about a change of mindset.
“A lot of people in the military are not comfortable talking about themselves,” Forrest says. “I think a lot of us try and pride ourselves on being very humble. There’s a fine balance of remaining humble but also communicating to potential employers what you’re capable of.” (03:24)
Although Forrest has been able to transfer soft skills into his MBA, the program also requires knowledge of hard business skills. He put a lot of his focus into classes such as business analytics, finance, and accounting in his first year. These classes form part of the McCombs MBA core curriculum. He’s giving himself the foundations he needs to thrive by mastering these topics as quickly as possible.
For Forrest, the future looks bright. He’s currently doing a summer internship at a consulting firm in Texas. Like most of his MBA program, he has noticed plenty of similarities between his internship and the military.
“In the military, on a daily basis, we were solving complex, challenging problems with small groups of very talented people and that’s how consulting was explained to me,” Forrest says. (07:47)
Forrest is plotting a career path in consulting after his MBA. But it represents more than just a new job. It’s a continuation of his desire to keep learning, expand his knowledge, and take on new challenges. That mindset stemmed from his time in the Marines, which has stuck with him as he takes on the latest challenge in his life.
Whatever challenges life throws at him next, you can be sure that Forrest will be as prepared to take them on.
If you want to learn more about studying for an MBA at Texas McCombs, reach out to one of our McCombs MBA ambassadors.
