I grew up in Manakin-Sabot, Virginia and attended Collegiate School in Richmond. I attended Washington and Lee University where I majored in history and was a member of the varsity lacrosse team. After graduation, I moved back to Richmond and taught and coached in the Upper School at St. Christopher’s School. While I loved the St. Christopher’s community and my job, I always wondered about the business side of academia. I also wanted to know more about the eco-system of the business world in general. After three years of teaching it was time for me to decide what graduate path I wanted to take and business school made the most sense to me.
Tulane was appealing for several reasons, aside from its strong reputation: First, I am a firm believer in the benefits of a small school environment. After learning and teaching in small classes for the last twenty years, I know that the relationships students forge with their professors and classmates through close interaction with them are paramount to the educational process. Students cannot hide in a small class, and participation within teams and during discussion forces learning while strengthening communication skills (the lifeblood of business, after all).
Second, I am excited about Tulane’s international focus and the opportunities the school creates to work and learn in real-world businesses abroad. In today’s global marketplace, it is more important than ever to have some fluency and understanding of world markets. Further, I never had the chance to “go abroad” in college because I was playing a sport. I look forward to travelling to Athens, Greece in a week to present our team’s research project for the CEO of a Greek wind and solar company. After completing this six-day “work study,” five of my classmates and I are going to Munich and then Amsterdam for our Spring Break, before returning to New Orleans.
More generally, I enjoy fly fishing, duck hunting, the Washington Redskins, and my dog Boomer. I hope to provide meaningful insight to readers of this blog, and that I can shed light on what life is like for an MBA student here at Tulane. If anyone has any questions, please don’t hesitate to email me at erider@tulane.edu and I will respond as soon as possible.