What’s up, y’all. I’m sorry for being a little slow on putting up entries lately. I’ve had a ton of work to do since the end of last week because I’m currently in the final week of the Winter quarter…Spring Break starts on Friday and I can’t wait. Between knocking out an individual final paper, working on three group final papers, an individual final presentation, two group final presentations, and my Touchy Feely T-group final feedback (that one alone took me 7-8 hours to do), I’ve been swamped. Plus, the BBSA Conference and Admit Weekend both took place this weekend, so I’ve been ridiculously busy.
Anyway, the following is an email that I sent to a friend of mine who is doing her GSB interview today and wanted me to give her a quick summary of my experience at Stanford so far. Those of you who have been reading this blog for a while know about the experience, but I thought the following gives a pretty good blow-by-blow of how the GSB has helped me to grow. I’m really going to miss this place after graduation.
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Anyway, the following is an email that I sent to a friend of mine who is doing her GSB interview today and wanted me to give her a quick summary of my experience at Stanford so far. Those of you who have been reading this blog for a while know about the experience, but I thought the following gives a pretty good blow-by-blow of how the GSB has helped me to grow. I’m really going to miss this place after graduation.
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I just realized that I didn’t ever send you my response to your original question and I hope I’m not too late in doing so now. I guess I took so long because I’ve been trying to figure out the best way to articulate my thoughts and, in the meantime, school work jumped all on me. I’m sorry about that.
If I were to sum my experience at the GSB up in two words they would be “amazing” and “transformational”. Every time I get up to head over the schol for classes, I know that I’m going to have some experience that will have a long-lasting effect on me. Whether it is in the classroom, in a group meeting, or just hanging out with folks at the school, there is just something about that school that won’t let you leave it unchanged. My classmates have pretty much made my experience a great one in the past 5 quarters. Coming in, I was pretty intimidated because I thought that everyone else was going to be a rockstar and I felt that I was one of Derrick Bolton’s admissions mistakes. Plus, I figured that most of my classmates (who’d I thought were from rich backgrounds for the most part…I had some janky experiences with rich kids in college) wouldn’t be checkin’ for The Kid, so I was ready to spend my two years in the shadows. I quickly found that there are so many things that you can get into that you can’t help but be “out there” and, as you reach out into the community, the community reaches out to you and embraces you.
It took me about a quarter to totally come out of my shell because that’s when I recognized that my classmates were just as interested in me as I was in them. Since then, I’ve felt like I’ve been building relationships on a progressively larger scale and on a deeper level with each day that passes. The folks that I’m here with are truly amazing and I would have been cheating myself if I’d kept my incoming mindset about interacting with them. I’ve been asked why I hold my classmates in such high esteem when I was surrounded by on-point people at Princeton and I respond as follows…at Princeton, I was around smart people, but, at that time, they were full of a lot of unfulfilled potential and I couldn’t get a sense of who they’d become. The difference at the GSB is that these people have come much closer to realizing their potential and have done some great things that I find myself learning from every day. I’ve often heard people say that you have to be around the best in order to be the best and I am a true believer in that statement now.
Being here has helped me figure out what I bring to the table and how I fit into the world around me better than i ever thought I’d get from such an experience. I’ve been able to do a lot of leadership activities, such as the GSB Senate, BBSA Leadership team, and other side initiatives that showed me that I can both perform under pressure and at a high level around people who are some of the best and brightest in the world. Working through my struggles in Consulting internships and then getting the McKinsey joint this year showed me that I’ve got tremendous perseverence and can accomplish anything I want if I work for it. Seeing my comfort level in the classroom has shown me that hard work and patience can take me as far as I want it to as long as I’m willing to put in the time and effort to internalize the information coming at me and figure out how to best make it work in my mind. The friendships I’ve formed here have shown me that I can connect with people from a diversity of backgrounds and on a number of different levels than I’d ever thought possible. And, finally, meeting your girl Grace taught me that hard work and focus are necessities, but a balanced life is more important than either of those and a good woman is a perfect way to work toward balance. Basically, this place has changed my outlook on so many things that I wasn’t anticipating when I got here.
OK, I know I said a lot, but I hope I got at what you were asking for. I apologize again for the delay. Good luck on your GSB interview today.
pretty much covers it all. great write-up, but isnt that you are always good at ? how many times will i congratulate you for insightful posts – guess, as long as you keep writing
I like what you write, very interesting.
I’ll miss you next year Marquis. You’ve definitely had a great impact on my GSB experience.
Thanks for the comments, everyone. I’m glad that people get something our of what I put up here.
Dolphin Lady, are you one of my classmates or one of the MBA1′s?
amazing that these were the exact things i had in mind when i went to the stanford interview..tis a pity that i did not articulate them as well as you did…..hope to see you on the farm in Fall ! this piece of writing here is truly inspirational and reflective….
cheers
Ash
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