Temi Busari had been working for over a decade in banking before she decided to pursue an MBA.

She had extensive experience in delivering strategic financial solutions in Nigeria, setting up and leading the treasury division at a leading fintech start-up and driving up contributions to the bottom line in less than three months.

She had also led and managed a treasury business across 10 different markets in Sub-Saharan Africa, boosting profitability on a combined balance sheet size of more than $2 billion.

Plus, Busari had to her credit three levels of the CFA professional certification – all passed in her first attempt within a remarkable 18-months.

So it may be hard to fathom why she would feel the need for an MBA.

Yet she knew if she was going to fulfill her dream of working and living internationally, she would need to build credibility in a new country and learn to navigate a different culture.

Canada was attractive and Ivey’s case-based program was especially compelling. “I wasn’t looking for a program where I was just going to be reading textbooks,” she says. “I wanted real live discussions about real live business problems, and have people come together with different perspectives.”

That’s exactly what she got. Busari and her classmates powered through more than 300 cases together, an experience she likens to boot camp. “There’s something fantastic about having a doctor, or somebody from health care or engineering who brings a fresh perspective that you never thought about,” she says.

Her previous experience helped her earn her an Ivey Excellence Award for academic excellence as part of her acceptance package. Yet she knew had just as much to learn from her classmates as she had to offer.

“I’d never been a minority at work. But this time, I was an immigrant, a Black woman in finance,” she says. “I saw my MBA class as a subset of corporate Canada. They gave me the experience of working with different cultures and learning to navigate that well.” Today, as a Vice President of Treasury and Trade Solutions at Citi, she uses those cultural lessons to tailor clients’ strategic financial solutions.

But her classmates also gave her something perhaps even more valuable – new friends in a new country. On Mother’s Day, Busari found herself keenly missing her children and husband in Nigeria when she heard a knock at her door.

“It was three lovely ladies from Ivey who had brought me Mother’s Day flowers,” she says with a smile.

Later that day, another classmate’s husband – recognizing it would be a difficult day for his wife’s friend – made both his wife and Busari a steak dinner.

“Ivey is a tough program. It’s going to stretch you. So I appreciated not going it alone,” she says.