Life, leadership and MBA as a hard of hearing person: Rotman MBA student Laura Chavira Razo shares her story
From Public Health to her MBA, Laura Chavira Razo is unstoppable. She is currently pursuing her MBA at the Rotman School of Management and is a student leader in multiple clubs on campus. We had the pleasure of connecting with her to discuss her studies, her passions and the challenges she has faced being a student who is hard of hearing.
Public Health, desserts and anxiety
Curious, passionate and a lover of desserts (particularly cake — the best part of birthday celebrations, obviously), Laura Chavira Razo comes from a small town in Mexico where her drive to improve health equity begins. “I have had the mission to make it easier for people to recover their health, particularly among underserved populations,” she explains when asked what fuels her everyday.
Her passion has led her to a largely diverse career path, starting from being a physician for those living with HIV, to an advisor for the Ministry of Health, then a Public health researcher. In her latest role, she is a full time MBA student building a more inclusive academic and work environment for those in minority groups. It was her research experience that pushed Laura to pursue her MBA. Realizing that a huge gap exists between evidence and scientific publications, and their impact on the population, Laura decided that she wanted to learn how to scale products, projects, or ideas born from research in Public Health and the Social Sciences fields.
Did her disability hold her back from pursuing her dream? Laura says a firm “no.” “I think that my disability did not play a role in holding me back when I decided to pursue an MBA.” she shares, “ However, it was a significant contributor to stress and anxiety because I was constantly afraid of not hearing people during the admission interviews or in the loud networking events that are common in business schools.”
Blocking out the noise
As a hard of hearing person, one of the main stressors for Laura was interacting with her peers. “I have struggled a lot with having conversations and when attending social gatherings,” Laura confesses, “As a hard of hearing person, it is difficult to hear and talk to people in noisy environments, and business schools tend to be very loud and sociable spaces.” Laura moves through the anxiety by sharing a little hack she used when needing a moment to herself. “Before COVID, sometimes I tried to have some minutes in a quiet space at school, but it was difficult to find one. So, I just removed my hearing aids and immediately, there was less noise, and I had a moment to be a little bit more relaxed.”
Despite the stress and anxiety, she never faltered from pursuing leadership positions. Laura is involved with the LGBTQ2S+ and the accessibility communities. She is also the current President of the Access to Success Club at Rotman. Not only has she been able to make an impact as a leader during her MBA, she also loves how much she has been able to learn as a student! She explains, “Being an MBA student has allowed me to learn from people who come from so many different fields and challenge some of my pre-existing frameworks and beliefs.”
Adapting to every situation with confidence
“I have received support from some of my classmates and the administration,” she shares, “However, I believe that there is a lot of self-advocacy work that students with disabilities have to do. For example, you need to be constantly advocating for a more accessible place. In a fast-paced program like the MBA, advocating sometimes can be emotionally and personally demanding. So, in some instances, instead of asking for more accommodations in classes or school events, I decided to adapt to the situation”
When asked for an example, Laura throws it way back to when she was first applying for her MBA. “When I had some virtual interviews at the beginning of the MBA, I had to install a big speaker next to my laptop to hear what the interviewer was telling me!”
So, where is she going next? Short answer: She’s still figuring it out. Laura wants to keep working on projects that not only fuel her curiosity but also aim to improve people’s wellbeing. She’s going to continue to look for opportunities in the innovation and healthcare spaces, continuing her passion for helping others recover their health.
Interested in sharing your experience? Contact us at marketing@accesstosuccess.ca
Published by Mihan Davar, writing for Access to Success.
