I'm a Survivor

I have made it through the first two days of my MBA program! Golf claps.

Wow... there is so much to say. So much to say, and such a slow internet connection so no faith that any of this will actually be saved, much less published, so, quickly and because I haven't gotten a full night of sleep in three nights and because I had two glasses of wine on an empty stomach:

As if I wasn't feeling confident enough in my choice of graduate degree, the past two days have confirmed that this next year will be pretty darn awesome.

Why?

The people. My fellow classmates comprise the mose diverse group of people with whom I have ever had the pleasure to schmooze. To think that I was going into this program concerned about my untraditional non-profit background... I was worried that people would meet me and think, "What the F is she doing here?" But instead, yesterday we did 30-second introductions of our classmates, and over and over again I thought to myself, "Wow! That is amazing!" My class of 149 people come from 49 nationalities and dozens of undergraduate majors. Their work experience ranges from Goldman Sachs rockstars to Microsoft ubernerds to lawyers to professional actors and practically every other job you can imagine. Some are in their early twenties, some are in their forties. Some have spouses and babies, some are single and fabulous. Some just learned English. And they are quite literally from all over the world.

And they're nice too! At least so far. I'm sure there will be personality clashes and maybe even cliques (as much as I would love to believe we are mature enough to escape them). I'm sure the egos will emerge, and the wallflowers will recede. But, for now, we are one big, happy, socializing crew.

Whenever anyone asks me my favorite thing about my Ivy League undergraduate experience (excuse the name drop, but just to give a bit of context), I immediately say "the people." And I truly believe that. I can't remember details of the wonderful things I studied - I remember being enthralled with most of my classes, but the details have long escaped out the other ear. Instead, I remember the people. The challenging conversations, the relationships. Being surrounded by exceptionally intelligent people for the first time in my life was a thrill.

This program will clearly have a similar impact. Some of my new classmates are economics masters and finance whizzes. I am not. I have other qualities to offer, though - some of which I am still discovering - and that is a huge part of what this program will be for me. I know that we will all bring something exciting to the classroom. And that will make all the difference.

On to Day Three... a lighter day, thank goodness. More details to come!