A spur of the moment walk at UBC changed Rob Atkins' life.
In the summer of 1997, the Bournemouth, U.K. native had just left the company he had started in London and was planning on having an adventuresome vacation with his wife, Stephanie, in B.C.
Within two days of getting to Vancouver, they discovered Stephanie was pregnant with their first child.
"We had wanted a really adventurous holiday but we couldn't do that with Stephanie being pregnant so we ended up with a lot of free time on our hands," says Atkins with a wry grin.
So instead the couple spent much of their time exploring the city by foot. With only a few days remaining in their vacation, they took a last-minute walk through UBC.
"We were walking on campus and I happened to go into the Henry Angus building and picked up a brochure on the MBA program," says Atkins.
At that point, Atkins had already been thinking about returning to school after almost a decade in the workplace.
After graduating in 1988 with his bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Atkins worked for Hewlett Packard in London for 12 months before he ventured off with a colleague to start his own computer-reselling business.
At first, they operated out of his partner's bedroom in London, but eventually the company grew to the point that when they sold it in 1996, it was a 50-employee firm with revenues of [[sterling]]33 million.
"During my seven years of working, I learned a lot," admits Atkins. "But one of the reasons why we sold the company was because we didn't believe we had the knowledge or experience to grow it further."
As part of the sale of his company, Atkins had agreed to stay on for two years to help in the transition, plus he viewed it as a chance to learn how to expand the business. Unfortunately, like many entrepreneurs who stay on at the company they built after its sale, Atkins couldn't stomach some of the changes he saw. He left, on amicable terms, after a year.
"I always knew I wanted to run another business and make it bigger and thought that an MBA would give me the knowledge and skills to do that," he says.
With that in mind and the fact that a non-competition clause that prevented him from operating another computer-related business in the UK, he applied to UBC's Master of Business Administration program.
"If I hadn't been accepted by UBC, I wouldn't have done an MBA," says Atkins citing the allure of UBC's 15-month program when compared to a typical two-year MBA at most other universities.
"Two years is a big commitment, especially when you have a wife and child to consider," says Atkins.
For someone who says he "did the minimum to get through" during his undergraduate days, returning to school was hard work. Atkins readily admits that the first 16 weeks of the program was a shock to his system. He typically spent five to six hours a day in classes and an additional four hours nightly studying and working on assignments.
But he's happy with the results. Not only does he believe that UBC's program has filled in gaps in his business knowledge but it will help him be a better entrepreneur as well.
"I really feel like I have learned a lot from the program. The accounting, strategy, marketing and finance courses have been particularly useful and I certainly think they will help in my next venture."
Atkins points out that the diverse and international mix of his classmates has enhanced his studies at UBC. There are lawyers, doctors and even a professional tennis player in his class.
"There are some exceptional students in the class and I have learned a lot from them too," he says.
Atkins isn't sure whether he will return to England after completing his MBA -- he has drafted a business plan for an Internet-based company and may launch it in Canada. With his wife pregnant again, Atkins, the entrepreneur, feels confident he'll be ready to tackle the business world again once armed with his MBA.
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