What a year 2008 has been! Unprecedented activity in the financial services shocked us, rocked us and now has left us at a point where nothing can be a surprise anymore - in some sense, I feel like, we have seen it all. 2008 will down in history as a year of redefining Wall Street and we can all talk about it for the next several years - unless 2009 beats 2008!
It looks like the number of applicants to Sloan (or all B-schools for that matter) has gone up this year. I have had the pleasure to talk to several potential applicants and have to admit I am always envious after chatting with them - it feels like there are so many new courses and new opportunities that students at Sloan have now. I wish I could go back to Sloan and soak up all the new stuff. I have spoken to applicants from HongKong, India and of course U.S. While their backgrounds are very different and they come from different cultures, I see one thing in common - the desire to get an MBA from Sloan.
It's not just applicants that are all around the world - Sloan alumni are everywhere! I go to a kids soccer game in Belmont, MA and there I meet a Sloanie, I get into the pool in a resort in Cancun, Mexico and there I see a Sloanie in his bright red Sloan T-Shirt! I am waiting in the airport in Atlanta and a Sloanie comes by to say hello, I am driving down a road in Chennai, India and the car in front has an MIT Sloan sticker...the list goes on. Talk about a global community!
2009 brings a new role for me at work. I am now the Business Manager for the CIO Technology Council. The council basically decides the technology strategy for the bank - it is very exciting to sit at the table with our super-smart CIOs. I'm hoping some of their skills will come to me by virtue of being in the same room!
Like everyone else, I am wishing for a 2009 where the credit crisis will pass, housing prices will reverse in direction, the recession will end..but most of all I am wishing for a 2009 where we won't have to deal with war, terrorism, hunger and poverty.
