Land ho

Commencement is but a week away, and a number of graduating MBAs are returning to campus from a sailing trip in the British Virgin Islands as part of a tradition for 2nd years. Here's hoping they had a safe, relaxing trip, with plenty of wind at their sails.

A nautical reference seems appropriate from my shoreside position in the Marketing and Communications Office. See, few students would liken MIT Sloan to calm seas. The water can be choppy; the wind, unpredictable and ever moving. The experience can be frenetic, taxing, and exhilarating.

Land is in sight for our graduating MBA students, and it has been quite a sail. They have survived the intense first semester core. They have forged cohesive teams among students with disparate backgrounds, expertise, and perspective. They have been instructed and inspired by faculty who play a role in shaping the real-world practice of the very topics they research.

They have heard from and met with visiting speakers who were here not only to speak but also to listen. They have traversed the globe on for-credit trips and treks that are as much a part of the learning experience as classroom lectures. They have balanced the demands of school and family and sorted out for now the possibilities of the future. They have had their share of fun, of course. And foremost they have challenged themselves and each other -- and prevailed.

My colleague Michelle Choate and I began interviewing students for our Student Stories podcast series a little over a year ago. Many of the students we interviewed at the beginning were first years, and I remember being struck by how each student had a wonderfully rich educational, personal, and professional background and how each seemed exhilarated by the present — however insanely demanding their schedule. Now, those very students are eying the future with the proud realization, I suspect, that their past here at MIT Sloan was one heck of a prologue.

Land ho, my friends. Great job!

- Posted by Scott Rolph