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.

1-19 of 19 listed alphabetically by storyteller's last name

CLASS OF2009

Durdana Achakzai Story VIDEO: RT: 03:22

Story regarding her smooth transition into the flow of HBS through the Pre-MBA Program and her intentions of carrying forth the principles of business ethics and corporate social responsibilities into her role as a business leader. She commends Pre-MBA staff members, Maureen Walker and Joyce Majewski, for their dedication to ensuring the success of the experience and the international faculty for sharing their stories of acclimating themselves to life in the United States. The multiplicity of ideas and opinions expressed during class discussion serve as the basis for truly informed decision making. In her future capacities, she will construct her leadership on the foundational teachings of courses such as Leadership and Corporate Accountability.

 

CLASS OF2009

Stephanie Balois Story VIDEO: RT: 06:34

Story regarding her bonding with classmates during her Pre-MBA Program, the power of the HBS learning model, her admiration of alumni dedication, and her plan to convey her passion for the School to the next generation of students. She formed fast and lasting friendships in the course of her Pre-MBA. The Priscilla Ball was one of the most exciting events of her HBS years to date. As an international student far from home, she feels that her section members are a second family. During the Leading in Business and Beyond Global Summit, she attended a session on the future of the MBA Program and was taken aback by the passionate concern of the alumni which she intends to emulate for succeeding classes of students.

 

CLASS OF2009

Joanne Chang Story VIDEO: 7 minutes

Story regarding her experience attending HBS in the 2000s as a first-generation immigrant from South Korea and the first person in her family to go to college. She discusses the Healthcare Initiative at HBS, the Biomedical Enterprise Program (a joint program between M.I.T. and Harvard University), and the impact of these unique collective programs on her decision to attend HBS. She appreciates the international perspective at HBS, as reflected in a section flag ceremony representing the students' international diversity. She recalls Professor DeLong challenging students not to avoid confronting "messy situations", such as the conflicts between financial and ethical concerns that often arise in healthcare-related case studies.

 

MBA2010

Shaohui Chen Story VIDEO: RT: 05:57

Story regarding his view of the Pre-MBA Program as an invaluable mini-MBA Program and his summation of the steps of preparing, studying, and discussing a case. Participating in the Pre-MBA Program acclimated him to life at HBS and in the United States in numerous ways, especially introducing him to the curriculum, methods, and faculty of the MBA Program. He analyzes the stages in the life cycle of a case: researching and investigating on your own; reviewing your findings with your learning team and exchanging feedback and ideas; presenting your interpretations in class and attempting to influence and convince your classmates; comprehending the professor's take-aways and absorbing the lessons of the case.

 

CLASS OF1982

Bob Halperin Story VIDEO: 9 minutes

Story regarding his experience attending HBS in the 1980s. He speaks of his leadership role in founding the HBS Social Enterprise Fellowship Program, which eventually merged with other programs to become the Social Enterprise Initiative. He proudly recounts the steps taken to make this "fragile" program permanent.

 

MBA2010

Yiwen Jin Story VIDEO: RT: 06:16

Story regarding her transformational self-discovery during her Pre-MBA Program experience. The safe, risk-free, and congenial atmosphere of the program empowered her to bolster her self-confidence and to transition into the cultural milieu of the United States. Overcoming her initial nervousness, her first contribution to classroom discussion was brief but liberating. She is very proud of her election to the position of section international representative. The section flag ceremony was one of the highlights of her section's activities. As a result of the program, she views herself as a completely new person.

 

CLASS OF2008

Edward Keith Story VIDEO: RT: 02:43

Story regarding how the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina happened when he, who is from New Orleans, started the MBA years of his joint JD/MBA Degree program. Dean Kim Clark let him know at once that the School would provide any assistance he needed. This personal concern touched him deeply, and he knew HBS was the right place for him to achieve his goals of helping others.

 

STAFF

Ani Kharajian Story VIDEO: 08:01

Story regarding her years managing international Executive Education programs. She recounts the transformational experience of leading the Senior Executive Program for Southern Africa and how she convinced HBS to extend the program so that the participants could come to the School. She describes her professional growth through these programs and their global impact.

 

CLASS OF2002

Rodrigo Lara Story VIDEO: 12 minutes

Story regarding his experience attending HBS in the 2000s, from the perspective of an international non-English speaking student who benefited from the Pre-MBA program and the bonds made within his student section.

 

CLASS OF2009

Gina Liao Story VIDEO: RT: 07:49

Story regarding her pleasant surprise at the warm and supportive environment of the Pre-MBA Program and the caring and personal attention from the faculty and staff. The program supplied the academic preparation for the academic system of the MBA Program. The international students found numerous affinities among themselves that flourished into harmonious unity. She extends her heartfelt gratitude to program staff members for their concern for her well-being. The most memorable moment of her first year was the frank and candid discussion of a case on child labor in Southeast Asia in Prof. Sandra Sucher's Leadership and Corporate Accountability course.

 

CLASS OF2009

Kristin Meyer Story VIDEO: 4 minutes

Story regarding her experience attending HBS in the 2000s, encapsuled in the international perspective she gained from attending the Middle-East Immersion program.

 

CLASS OF2009

Limor Moshkovich Story VIDEO: 2.5 minutes

Story regarding her experience attending HBS in the 2000s, encapsuled in her organization of and participation in the China-Vietnam Immersion program (China and Vietnam: Faces of Revolutionary Change), and her hopes for the impressive elementary school children she met on that trip.

 

CLASS OF2009

Bernardo Novick Story VIDEO: RT: 07:26

Story regarding his endorsement of the Pre-MBA Program to prospective students and his recommendation to all students to manage their time wisely and to regard their HBS years as a cornerstone of their lives and not just a career stepping-stone. The Pre-MBA environment was the setting for developing tight bonds that have carried on into the MBA Program and was a productive introduction to the case method. The India Immersion program was a unique platform for learning deeply about a country and its people. With the multitude of options at HBS, he exhorts students to steer their HBS course prudently and efficiently.

 

CLASS OF2009

Efe Pazarceviren Story VIDEO: RT: 06:48

Story regarding the academic and social benefits he derived from participation in the Pre-MBA Program. As the program dates conflicted with his wedding plans, he at once modified his schedule, and so the program improved his problem-solving skills even before it started. In this risk-free environment, his classmates and he had a platform from which to grasp the fundamentals of the case method and to develop study and classroom discussion strategies. He formed relationships and initiated networks that will persist through his HBS years and beyond. The rapid pace of the Pre-MBA Program simulated the intensity of the MBA Program and honed his time management skills. Through the program, he has already forged his bonds with the HBS community.

 

CLASS OF2008

Hunter Pierson Story VIDEO: 7.5 minutes

Story regarding his experience as a teacher and a native of New Orleans attending HBS in the 2000s, studying public education in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina as a participant of the New Orleans Service Immersion program. The "exhilirating, exhausting days" interviewing school principals (including a HBS alumnus), led to deep friendships, personal growth, and an independent research project to develop a case study about the New Orleans Public Education System.

 

CLASS OF2009

Esther Rodriguez-Fernandez Story VIDEO: RT: 04:13

Story regarding how the Pre-MBA Program provided her with an invaluable head start before being immersed in the HBS experience. At her MBA interview, she met a number of fellow Spaniards who wholeheartedly endorsed the program as an avenue to creating her first HBS family. She availed herself of the profusion of services to prepare herself academically and to arrange the everyday details of residence in a new country. Faculty members explicated the mechanics and nuances of the case method in classroom scenarios without the stress of close observation of her performance, and this introduction has been priceless to her. Her classmates and she have coalesced into a supportive group on which they can rely throughout their MBA years.

 

CLASS OF2009

Tiffany Singleton Story VIDEO: RT: 09:17

Story regarding her excitement with the avenues HBS has provided to prepare her for a career in nonprofit management as her way of making a difference in the world and her anticipation of graduation as a joyful moment to share with her family. A fellow graduate of Dillard University and an HBS MBA recommended the program to her. Composing her application essays evoked profound ruminations on possible career courses and signalled the School's commitment to leadership development. In her interview, she spoke passionately of her pride in her alma mater and New Orleans, as both rebuilt after Hurricane Katrina. She was ecstatic at her acceptance, especially since her family could partake in the proud occasion. Currently she heads the student-led New Orleans Immersion initiative to aid in the recovery of the city, and in alignment with such work, she has designed her second-year curriculum to pave the way for a leadership role in the nonprofit sector.

 

CLASS OF2009

Garry Thaniel Story VIDEO: RT: 05:00

Story regarding how during the Analytics Program, Prof. Jan Hammond urged students to fulfill their responsibilities to make the world a better place. In the Service Immersion New Orleans program to assist the city recover from the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina, he worked as a consultant to the Archdiocese to open a clinic for the working uninsured of the city. These experiences have reinforced his belief in the School's commitment to training world leaders.

 

CLASS OF2009

Ziquan Zhang Story VIDEO: RT: 03:51

Story regarding his motivation for coming to HBS from China as the desire to contribute his business acumen to his country's development. Organizing the Asia Business Conference supplied him with the platform for cross-cultural leadership. To relate how inspirational the HBS community is for him, he tells how two Class of 1961 Section C members presented flags and sang a song of their own composition to wish success on his Section C.