A Perspective Shift: Winter in San Francisco
- Cathy Campo
- Mar 29
- 6 min read
By: Emma Bryan
When I was deciding to come to Kellogg, a huge swaying factor for me was the SF Immersion Program, or winter quarter "abroad" in San Francisco with an internship component. At the time, I had just moved to San Francisco from New York City, in part to close out a period of long distance with my JV who had moved there a year prior, but also because I felt drawn to the lifestyle and energy of the city. My first trip to San Francisco was in 2021, and all it took was a hike in Marin, some yoga at Baker Beach, and a burrito in the Mission to pique my interest. When I had a life reason to pivot coasts, I was excited to do so.
That said, I was also drawn to business school as it was something I'd envisioned myself doing for so long. The number one question I asked current students and alumni as I decided was, "at Kellogg, will I be able to get back to SF?" The answer was a resounding yes, especially given the strong alumni presence in the Bay, anecdotes of recruiting success in the area, and the SF Immersion Program. I was sold.
Now that I'm wrapping my time with SF Immersion, I'm so glad that two years ago, I committed to this path. I can honestly say that this quarter has been one of the highlights of my time at Kellogg, and I'm immensely grateful to have done it. It's fundamentally revitalized the way I'm thinking about my career, and I'm walking away with a stronger Kellogg x SF community, plus excitement to return here full-time when I graduate. While the biggest pull for me to the program was lifestyle (no long distance, no Chicago winter!), I've been consistently blown away by the classes, the exposure to the SF VC/startup ecosystem, and the community that has been built through it. I one million times over would do this program again.
For SF Immersion, we enroll in 3.5 credits for the quarter. Two of these are an internship while the rest are Kellogg courses instructed in-person/hybrid mediums in SF. I started my career at a company with 300,000 employees, moved to one with 3,000, interned at another with 35,000, and then found myself this quarter at a company where the whole team fits into a single, seven-desk office in a WeWork. I interned at a Y Combinator-backed digital health startup called Stellar Sleep, along with another Kellogg classmate, where we partnered directly with the COO on strategic initiatives. My focus was on creating a go-to-market strategy to go after a new area of business, and I spent most days conducting market research, chatting with experts in the space, and compiling recommendations. I had so much fun and learned a ton! While skills from my earlier roles translated into this environment, there were so many nuances to being at a company of this stage, and it was a great experience to challenge myself, take full ownership, and find creative solutions without the support of a larger company with existing systems behind me.
On the academic side, one credit came from Launching and Scaling Startups with Professor Mike Xenakis, a Kellogg alum who served as Chief Product Officer of OpenTable from Series A to IPO. In addition to Mike’s wealth of experience and insights from his time at OpenTable, he brought in founders and operators each week who provided firsthand perspectives into everything from finding an idea to closing a company down.
Our second course, Advanced Topics in Venture Investing with Professor Morgan Slain, offered a window into the VC landscape from people who have truly lived it. What was most incredible was how naturally what we were exposed to in these classes both reinforced and enhanced the experience with our internships and in the Bay more broadly. One of the craziest moments of this for me was when a guest speaker and I chatted during a class break, I mentioned my internship project, and it turned out his son-in-law had done something nearly identical for a wildly successful company a few years prior. Two weeks later, what was supposed to be a 30-minute call with him turned into a 90-minute behind-the-scenes look at the gold standard of building enterprise digital health go-to-market from the ground up. This discussion was truly inspiring and a huge turning point for me in this experience. It instilled in me how much luck exists in building a business, how important proximity is to forming these connections, and that even the gold standard business practices today began at floor zero at some point.
Beyond work and school, the program gave us full access to the Bay Area ecosystem, and we truly took advantage. I attended events during the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference, AI and tech-focused meetups, Kellogg-sponsored networking events, and dinners with alumni who have excelled in their respective fields here. Whether it was riding in a Waymo, attending a robot cooking demo, or debating the future of work over dinner, the energy of the Bay was constantly shifting the way I thought about what's possible. You can hear about this innovation from Evanston, but there's nothing that compares to being on the ground and experiencing it for yourself.
Though everything truly surpassed my expectations, my favorite part of the experience was the community built through it. Alumni dinners gave me a window into the generations of Kellogg that came before and an opportunity to connect more deeply with my classmates around the table. One of my favorite events was a happy hour with SF Immersion alumni from the past decade, which was genuinely special. Hearing how the program has changed from the initial 12-person cohort to now was super interesting, and seeing how many people this program has touched, both personally and professionally, made me so grateful to have spent my winter here.
Beyond structured events, classmates organized park days at Dolores, hikes around the Bay, and a trip to Napa and Sonoma. We even had a few (non-Kellogg-sponsored) TGs! Many people came into the program curious about SF but not necessarily committed to it, and by the end, many people were certain that SF is indeed where they want to be. As someone who is coming back post-grad, this time felt like a jumpstart on building a community that will last far beyond just this quarter.
In wrapping up the program, Professor Xenakis reminded us how important it is to do things that make you happy. It can be easy to get caught up in the rat race, and while this quarter was in part about work, what became clear is how critical it is to find meaning in what you do and to be curious about the community around you. We heard this from founders in our classes and saw it firsthand through our work at early-stage startups and VC firms. I'm walking away feeling truly refreshed and more hopeful about what's possible in the careers and lives of me and my classmates. Again, this program was game changing and truly inspiring. That said, I also did yoga three times per week and got more sun than I ever have in a winter—undoubtedly this also helped.
As I wrap, I’d be remiss to mention that there was a cloud over the end of the program for myself and my classmates. The SF Immersion Program's future isn't guaranteed as the SF campus lease has expired, and a path forward is still being solidified. I don't say this to end on a down note. If anything, it made me more grateful for the experience we had and more aware of how rare it is to stumble into something that genuinely and profoundly shifts your perspective. Programs like this don't happen by accident and take intention, investment, and genuine care to sustain. It’s clear that the team on the ground in SF has done just that, and I can only hope that the program is preserved and recognized for the value it has brought, and could bring, to generations of Kellogg students. Read About More Kellogg Students Abroad: Japan, Finally I Left Kellogg for a Month and the World Didn't End (Argentina Edition)
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