While many recent graduates interested in an MBA take a few years to gain some professional work experience, Sabrina Yurkofsky ’15 is moving straight on from graduation to pursue a degree from NYU’s Stern School of Business, where she will be concentrating in entertainment, media and technology.
Yurkofsky, who was a Senior Fellow at Hamilton this year, is a beneficiary of the William R. Berkley Scholarship program, which “supports exceptional college seniors who wish to pursue their full-time MBA at NYU Stern directly following graduation.”
The scholarship includes the full two year’s tuition, an $18,000 annual housing stipend, a $10,000 annual stipend for miscellaneous expenses, as well as access to special “key contacts amongst the school’s administration.”
There is no ambiguity for Yurkofsky as to her desired career path going forward. “I plan to go into the television and film industries. I have interned intensively at companies in these industries throughout my college career, working at firms like The Weinstein Company and ITV Studios America, and last year I was selected as a fellow with the International Radio and Television Society (IRTS).”
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The appeal of television and film to Yurkofsky lies in the diversity of roles one can fill within the industry.
“I have always been drawn to the way the industry combines the creative and business sides; there are many different hats you can put on within the business, and I've been trying to identify which I am best suited to wear.”
Yurkofsky is also excited about the change of pace that NYU will represent relative to her experience at Hamilton. “My liberal arts education at Hamilton has provided me with invaluable critical thinking and analytical skills, which I'm sure will serve me well in whatever I decide to do,” she says, adding jokingly “however, through either uncanny foresight or, more likely, bad planning, I did not take any business-oriented classes during my time at Hamilton.”
For this reason, the entertainment, media and technology program at Stern is ideal. “I hope that this program will provide me with these skills I lack, as well as expose me to alternate ways of thinking, tailored specifically towards the business.”
On the subject of opportunity, Yurkofsky has one piece of advice for current undergraduates: be proactive. “Put in the time and do research. It sounds so simple, but there are a lot of great opportunities out there, great scholarship programs and fellowships that aren’t necessarily advertised, and that you can only take advantage of if you go out there and look for them.”
