HBS Leaders on HBS | Alumni on Leadership | Community Memories

Community Memories

A collection of poignant, humorous stories and reminiscences on the HBS experience from our community members, including alumni, staff, and MBA students.

1-10 of 10 listed alphabetically by storyteller's last name

MBA2010

Steve Alden Story VIDEO: RT: 05:52

Story regarding his learning about Harvard University and its various programs and his route through accounting to HBS. Growing up in Massachusetts, he heard throughout his youth about Harvard and so he faced a difficult decision when he was accepted there and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. With his commercial interests, he selected the latter's business program. As a senior, he found about the 2+2 Program, whereby students are reserved a slot at HBS and then spend two years gaining work experience. With the aid of HBS alumni, he crafted his application and was admitted. During the two years he worked as an accountant and earned his CPA. Quickly overcoming his concerns about fitting in with his classmates, the supportive milieu and community spirit of his section and the School will be the foundation for his energy and excitement over the next two years.

 

MBA2010

Courtney Bass Story VIDEO: RT: 07:58

Story regarding how her voyage to HBS was started by her mother and her long-term aim is to devote her HBS education to the service of bettering the lives of others. Her mother, Paula Sneed MBA 1977, always expected she would join the Harvard community, and she attained that goal by graduating from Harvard College in 2003. While pondering the next stage in her life, she determined that she desired to have an impact on the world on a grand scale, and the School's prominence in nurturing leaders was the deciding factor for her. She is gratified by the School's commitment to diversity and celebrating diversity, and she will go out into the world to work to open minds as hers has been at HBS. She believes that her mother and she are one of the first African American mother-daughter couples at HBS. Her mother's accomplishments as a business leader and ethical leader who has achieved "results and goodness at the same time" stand as a profound inspiration for her.

 

MBA2010

Yinan Du Story VIDEO: RT: 07:08

Story regarding his first impressions of HBS through the Harvard University reputation, his adjustment to and total engagement with the case method, and his entrepreneurial pursuits. Growing up China, he became acquainted with the Harvard name and observed the respect accorded to those who attend the University. The transition from the lecture style of instruction to the case method was challenging until he fully understood the model of students learning from each other with the professor as guide and leader. He finds the additional types of teaching modes at HBS to be complementary to the case method, such as the Best Reflected Self exercise in his Leadership and Organizational Behavior course. His original goal of coming to HBS was to develop his entrepreneurial acumen and so he has availed himself of the School's numerous resources, the faculty's guidance, and his classmates' knowledge and expertise.

 

CLASS OF1998

Randy Fine Story VIDEO: RT: 04:15

Story regarding his proceeding directly from Harvard College to HBS and the entirely new world he found across the Charles River. His classmates challenged him as a young student with little business training, but this spurred him to catch up. He found the case method better suited to his learning style than the paper writing and textbook approach. His HBS education has opened up entrepreneurial opportunities for him and he is grateful to HBS for taking a chance on a young person from Kentucky.

 

CLASS OF2009

Aman Khaira Story VIDEO: RT: 08:01

Story regarding his realization of the power of the case method when he experienced a transformational moment during a classroom discussion. While studying the lives and careers of HBS graduates from two decades earlier, many of his classmates were moved to voice their own fears and apprehensions that elicited an understanding of a personal situation in his past. Through the case method, he has absorbed communications skills to advance and expedite discussions and meetings. He has been astonished by the faculty's overwhelming personal attention, which has been exemplified by Prof. Jan Rivkin's assistance with securing summer jobs for his entire section during the current financial crisis and the entire Harvard system's immediate response.

 

STAFF

Pat Light Story VIDEO: 08:32

Story regarding her thirty plus years at MBA Support Services working with students to ensure the best possible HBS experience for them. She narrates a story of helping a student's brother after the tragedy of September 11th. She describes the School's "culture of support" and how Harvard and HBS are "in her blood."

 

STAFF

Don Lippincott Story VIDEO: 5 minutes

Story regarding his experience working in the MBA Program department for over 7 years, with note of his previous employment at Harvard University.

 

CLASS OF2008

Johnita Mizelle Story VIDEO: 6 minutes

Story regarding her experience attending HBS in the 2000s, encompassing leadership opportunities (serving as chair of the Financial Club Conference, and CFO of the Entrepreneurship Club) and what she learned from teaching and mentoring Harvard College sophomores with Wall Street aspirations. Being the first person in her family to attend Harvard is a meaningful achievement.

 

CLASS OF1993

Kathleen Murray Story VIDEO: RT: 04:07

Story regarding how she accords a prominent position to her membership in the HBS community among her multiple life affiliations. She devotes a great amount of time and energy to her HBS alumni network and responsibilities, including serving as AMP class secretary and working with various HBS and Harvard organizations. The lifelong intellectual stimulation, learning, and friendships from her Advanced Management Program experience continually reinvigorate her connection to the School. She has even transmitted that commitment to her nephew, whom she persuaded to select HBS from among the business schools to which he was accepted.

 

CLASS OF2009

Andrew Styperek Story VIDEO: RT: 07:55

Story regarding his vision of combining his medical and business educations to exert an impact on society and the enrichment of the educational process from his classmates' inputs. Born into a family of physicians, his expression of interest in the business world diverted somewhat from that line, but he feels his plan to weld the two disciplines together will yield the most effective results. As a graduate of Harvard College, he is pleased to take part in the same diversity of students and viewpoints, which is a hallmark of the university tradition. He has learned a great deal from disagreements with classmates and the case analysis of business mistakes and failures. Equipped with his medical and business knowledge, he will be prepared to bring about major change in the world.