Couple celebrate MBA graduation together

When Rebecca Giebelhaus and Sheldon Marquis matched on Tinder in 2015, they decided to meet at a steakhouse in downtown Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

What could have been a brief first date stretched into four hours, and by the time the waiter asked them to leave so he could close up, they had chatted about everything from hobbies to politics. They even spoke about wanting to do MBAs in future, but neither expected they'd eventually get married, move overseas and study together.

"Rebecca was my first and only date on Tinder," says Sheldon. "I wasn't much for the dating scene, but when I saw her walk in, I thought, 'This could be my wife'. Ten years later, here we are, married, living in New Zealand and graduating with MBAs together."

Rebecca, who did a Bachelor of Science in Nursing in Canada and became a registered nurse, was interested in pursuing an MBA from a very young age.

"When I was eight, my uncle was doing his MBA," she says. "He told me he was 'learning a little of everything' so he could grow as a person and have better conversations with people from all walks of life in the company he worked for.

I thought that was so cool. And when Sheldon and I told him we would be studying together in New Zealand, he told us it was magical to have the chance to do the MBA as a couple. He was right."

Before coming to Aotearoa, Rebecca worked in a nurse-led community programme in Alberta where she was impressed by colleagues with MBAs managing large operations, combining their clinical expertise with financial and management knowledge.

Sheldon, who worked as an electrician and did a Bachelor of Engineering in Alberta, is now a senior electrical engineer at Beca, and says the MBA has made a big difference to the way he operates in his role.

The couple say doing the MBA together for 18 months was an extraordinary experience, although relationship-wise, they did have some qualms.

"It can be a huge strain on relationships, especially when you're both working,” says Rebecca.

"Normally, when someone does an MBA, their partner picks up a lot of home life. With us both doing it, there wouldn't be much time in our schedules for cooking, cleaning, etcetera."

Because of this, they planned their schedules carefully. "We bought a deep freezer and cooked all our meals for the next three months before each quarter. We even outsourced our laundry," says Sheldon.

"It's rare for spouses to do the same degree together, especially in such different fields like engineering and nursing, and we got to see each other in a new light," he says.

"Rebecca came in quiet, but the MBA built her confidence, especially in presentations. I was proud to watch her grow, and overall, for us to grow as a couple."

The Marquis’ completed two group projects together and laugh about getting on each other's nerves in the first. But for their capstone project, they wanted the opportunity to work in the same group again.

On this final group project, which saw the couple and their fellow MBA students head to San Francisco, Rebecca took the lead as project manager. "She brought a calm and cool approach," says Sheldon, "we had outstanding results."

During the study trip, the couple interviewed tech directors and other industry leaders. One particularly memorable moment was a cold-call interview with the director of a private special needs school. “She taught us so much about the private industry, and it was just that one conversation that was able to really open our eyes to different perspectives,” says Sheldon.

The way the MBA at the University of Auckland is structured works well for both life and work, says the couple, who found the Business School's approach to the MBA preferable to a lot of overseas options, including those in Canada.

"Most MBAs are full-time for two years, which can be a financial and professional strain for many people," says Rebecca.

"Here, we were able to fit it into our lives, keep working, and see benefits very quickly; we both got promotions and new opportunities at work."