Four years ago, I was in New York training for my Analyst program at Lehman Brothers. I came up to Boston one weekend to visit a friend who was an undergraduate at MIT at the time. As we passed by the Sloan school with her mother, she said maybe I could go there someday and I remember telling her, “I can only dream of getting into Sloan.” Never in a million years did I think that I would be graduating from Sloan four years later.
I am now officially an alumna of MIT Sloan. Graduation was an event full of joy, tears and remembrance of the good times we had together as a class. I remember walking into Sloan on the first day of our orientation program, excited to be part of an amazing institution that is at the forefront of innovation and leadership, but I was only 23 at the time and frankly a bit nervous as to whether I would be able to live up to everybody’s expectations. Over the course of my time at Sloan, I learned that there was actually no reason for me to be worried. Like they say, the only limits are those that we set for ourselves. I was surprised by my ability to contribute, learn and lead, and as a result, emerged as a much more confident person through my MBA education.
The classes that I took at MIT Sloan, the activities that I partook in and all the interactions that I had with various leaders, managers, classmates and faculty members, allowed me to grow so much, not only as a professional, but also as an individual. This holistic experience and growth is something I feel I could not have gained anywhere else. One of my favorite memories at MIT Sloan is my G-Lab experience, where I traveled to two countries in Africa to develop a market entry strategy for an innovative antenna technology that could help solve a pressing telecommunications problem in rural Africa. That was hands down my favorite class at MIT Sloan as it was an extremely eye-widening experience, not only from a cultural perspective, but also from an entrepreneurial and business perspective. I definitely recommend everybody at MIT Sloan to take G-Lab. Another experience I enjoyed was working on a business plan for a hybrid LED technology my second semester at Sloan through a class called New Enterprises.
Finally, I feel very fortunate to have met my classmates who challenged me, helped broaden my perspective, and most importantly became great friends. I was truly amazed by everybody’s caliber and energy, and they really pushed me to work harder to achieve my goals.
I will miss MIT Sloan a lot, but at the same time I am excited for what lies ahead of me. I just moved out to the bay area and am getting ready to start working in August. I will be working for Barclays Capital in Menlo Park and am excited to be working with technology firms in Silicon Valley. I am training in New York in August and will be back in the bay area again in September. Thank you all for reading my blog – it’s been a great 2 years. I will try to update from time to time to let you know how I am doing! J
