Student Perspectives: A Day in the Life/ Balancing Family, Schoolwork and Self-care

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About Alejandra: Alejandra is originally from Caracas, Venezuela, where she studied Chemical Engineering. She co-founded a start-up in Venezuela and then moved to Boston in 2014, where she worked in Industrial Water Treatment, transitioning from a technical role to a Sales and Marketing position. After that, she continued her career in Sales and Business Development across different industries, including startups. While at Anderson, Alejandra is concentrating in Marketing and Entrepreneurship. Outside of school, Alejandra cares deeply about mentoring others (she is a Riordan Fellows mentor), loves to cook, and enjoys the outdoors and exercising (big Peloton fan!).


Hi there! My name is Alejandra Perez, and I’m a first year full-time MBA student at UCLA Anderson. I am originally from Caracas, Venezuela, where I studied Chemical Engineering. I’ve worked in sales, marketing, and engineering projects across a wide range of industries (from manufacturing to tech), including my own start-up! While at Anderson, I am focusing on Marketing and Entrepreneurship.

I chose Anderson because of the unique opportunity to start my own business idea through BCO- the Business Creation Option- a capstone project in which students research and develop a business idea that could potentially be launched afterwards! I also chose Anderson because of its people. I always felt welcomed and valued, and the sharing success trait was evident since day 1.

Navigating the business school experience in a virtual setting has been a challenge, but worth it!

There are countless events and activities going on every single day, so it is important to prioritize what is more important to you and will add more value to your experience. The benefit of a virtual environment is that it allows us to actually attend more events that we would be able to in person!

Since many meetings and events happen back-to-back, it’s more important than ever to make time for self-care and family, to protect your mental health and overall wellness. What has worked for me personally is scheduling time in my calendar for working out, meals, and having at least one hour of family time in my day. I am the mother of a 2-year old boy, so it is important for me to try to spend quality time together every day. I use the weekend to relax, and also meal-prep to set myself up for success during the week and avoid relying too much on unhealthy food!

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During the fall (core) quarter, I am enrolled in three classes: Managerial Economics, Marketing Management, and Data & Decisions. These take place Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 8:00 AM to 11:00 AM, and on the afternoons I usually take time to do readings, homework, go to meetings with my learning team, or attend club events (either social or career focused). Fridays are usually “free” days, when I mostly concentrate on recruiting efforts (preparing for interviews with my interview buddy), scheduling informationals with 2nd year students or alumni, and working on my academic internship project. I will share with you how a typical Thursday looks like for me!

6:30 AM: After snoozing for 15 minutes, I roll out of bed to start my morning routine. First thing I do is a 10-15 min meditation to get a good start on my day and clear my head. I avoid looking at my phone before meditating, so that I’m ready to tackle anything that comes at me with a positive attitude.

7:00-8:30 AM: Working out time! I have a Peloton bike (which I love!), I try to keep this slot as sacred time for exercise. On class days I only do Cardio until 8:00 AM, on Thursdays and Fridays I also add some strength training to my slot. After I’m done, I kiss my 2-year-old son goodbye and wish him the best day ever before his dad drives him to daycare.

9:00 AM-10:00 AM: Marketing ACT (Anderson Career Teams) time! Something unique about Anderson is the opportunity to get coached in your industry of choice by seasoned 2nd year students. The most successful 2nd years who successfully recruited in a particular industry share their experience with first years, while offering Resume and interview prep, plus industry insights and helpful tips!

10:00 AM- 11:00 AM: Time to catch up on e-mails and Slack messages! All our club activities and opportunities are shared on Slack Channels, so it’s very important to stay up-to-date!

11:00-11:30 AM: I had a meeting with my wonderful Parker Career advisor Jessica Christopher. It’s amazing to have the opportunity to meet regularly with an experienced career coach who guides you through the recruiting process and set you up for success. I always learn something new at each meeting, and it gives me peace of mind to know I have the best support system.

This is how I typically look on Zoom:

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11:30-12:30 PM: We had a Marketing Trends workshop led by General Mills. Learned consumer trends during COVID times and had the opportunity to learn directly from Marketing executives from the company.

12:30-1:30 PM: Lunch break! I try my best to leave at least 30 mins for a lunch break every day. It allows me to clear my head and get a break from screen-time.

1:30-2:30 PM: Meeting with my learning team! We worked together on the weekly class assignment, discussing the week’s case study. We put ourselves in the shoes of the protagonist and agreed on the best strategy to execute. We divided tasks among the group to have our homework ready for Monday.

2:30-4:30 PM: Work on assignments, deliverables, and checked/responded emails! I also worked on my pitch deck for the start-up company I’m hoping to develop through BCO!

4:30-5:00 PM: Time to pick up my son from Daycare! I call my parents during this 30-min drive to catch up on how my day went.

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5:00-7:00 PM: Family time! I colored some books with my toddler, practiced the alphabet and numbers, and took the dog for a walk together with my husband and son. Also watched family friendly Netflix together. Sometimes there might be a social event taking one hour of this slot, but I tend to prioritize family time and decide to attend more social events on Fridays or weekends. That weekend, I went to a hike in Malibu with my husband!

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7:00-8:30 PM: Entrepreneurship ACT (Anderson Career Teams) time! In this session, we learned what investors look for in pitch decks, and we went into breakout rooms to share our ideas and progress with classmates and coaches. This group is full of future founders, aspiring venture capitalists, and people who are just curious about entrepreneurship in general!

8:30 PM: Bedtime for my toddler! We go over our little routine and I put him down to bed. Then my husband and I eat dinner and catch up on how our days went.

9:30-10:30 PM: I go over my to-do list and plan my next day to make the most out of my available time. I make sure to have all my Zoom links organized so I can attend all meetings on time!

11:00 PM: Time for bed! I try my best to get 7 hours of sleep every day. It might not be possible every single time, but having a plan keeps me on track!

I hope you enjoyed a walk through my day! In summary: school time is busy and career goals are extremely important, but don’t forget to prioritize family and self-care to avoid burnout and have the best experience possible!


Student Blogger: Alejandra Perez ‘22

Undergrad: Universidad Simon Bolivar- Caracas, Venezuela

Pre-MBA: Lionbridge Technologies

Leadership@Anderson: Executive Director- Entrepreneur Association, Director of Partnerships- Marketing Association, Director of Alumni Relations- Alliance for Latinx in Management, Director of Marketing and Communications- Latin American Business Association, Admissions Ambassador Corps


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