Carlos A. Sanchez-Martinez, PhD ’17: Refusing to Fall Into Mediocrity

At Stanford GSB, a student finds professors and peers who help him reach beyond his limits.

June 08, 2014

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Carlos A. Sanchez-Martinez, PhD ’17 | ToniBird Photography

This series features our students’ reflections on their aspirations, learnings, challenges, and joys. Here, Carlos honors the people around him at business school who push him to be better at his career.

One of my life premises is to constantly pursue quality and self-improvement. I am constantly competing with myself because I am deeply afraid of falling into mediocrity.

This premise is probably why I decided to pursue my PhD at a place like Stanford GSB. Working with professors who are continuously trying to push me out of my comfort zone is an invaluable asset unique to our school, and hopefully, this will help me become a leading scholar in my field in the near future.

My peers in the PhD program also complement this experience, as I greatly value our collaborative work. Ultimately, we all try to address problems and research questions that somehow give us a further understanding of issues that are relevant to our society. This environment is especially valuable because it has empowered me to pursue career goals that I once thought were almost unreachable.

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