Monday, January 12, 2009
What Does Business School Mean to You?
I ask this because during the break I reflected a great deal on my first semester. Besides writing cover letters and applying for summer internships, I spent a lot of time thinking about what brought me to business school and how important this experience has been for me. I should have posted this stuff right after the end of the semester but I honestly just wanted to sleep and relax through the holiday (which I was very successful at doing...smile). I am writing only now as I prepare for this next semester and remind myself of what it takes for the journey ahead. As I reflect on what business school means to me, I can safely say that it is far from a 2-year finishing school or break to figure out what to do for the rest of your life (although the month long winter break was quite nice).
Business school is, however, a truly end-to-end learning process that was for me hard to understand at the outset. Prior to coming, I thought I had a good idea of what business school was all about. I figured it was about developing new skills to make even more of an impact in business - and I was largely correct. I considered the social aspects of learning from and with amazing faculty and peers with incredible experience - yup, check there too. I also expected the JGSM program to draw out my talent and challenge me to grow in new and exciting different ways - and oh believe me, it most certainly has. In fact, while sometimes screaming hooray like a champ for a job well done, I was often screaming thank you big brother may I have another like a fraternity pledge. You can find your career answers at business school but , just like in my chosen career of strategy consulting; you have to ask the right questions - and mostly of yourself.
Now on the other side of being admitted and surviving the core and now deciding what to do for the summer (and the rest of my life), I really had no idea of what to expect in the first semester. In fact, had I known in August what I know now, I would have done some things differently even during the spring and summer before orientation. The point is that business school is of course a great educational opportunity to learn and do new things that many of us have likely never done before. But the warm and fuzzy stuff needed to get in, yields quickly to firing-line called the core. The sooner you figure out what it takes the better you will be. At the Johnson School you will reach your goals, but those are up to you to define.
Ann Richards told me when I first visited Johnson (a few years before applying), that from the moment you step on campus, you will find it important to start closing certain doors because you will not have time to do everything. I knew that she had imparted something special in the comment but little did I realize then just how powerful that would be. The Johnson School motto is Real Impact and believe me the core professors know it and they do a good job of making that loud clear. That might not be the warm and fuzzy stuff of application essays but I hope you are not reading this for warm and fuzzy. There is plenty of glossy literature and online content for that. Although my posts are not always as frequent as I would like, one thing I will promise try to do is to be authentic. Thanks Clint!
Business school is, however, a truly end-to-end learning process that was for me hard to understand at the outset. Prior to coming, I thought I had a good idea of what business school was all about. I figured it was about developing new skills to make even more of an impact in business - and I was largely correct. I considered the social aspects of learning from and with amazing faculty and peers with incredible experience - yup, check there too. I also expected the JGSM program to draw out my talent and challenge me to grow in new and exciting different ways - and oh believe me, it most certainly has. In fact, while sometimes screaming hooray like a champ for a job well done, I was often screaming thank you big brother may I have another like a fraternity pledge. You can find your career answers at business school but , just like in my chosen career of strategy consulting; you have to ask the right questions - and mostly of yourself.
Now on the other side of being admitted and surviving the core and now deciding what to do for the summer (and the rest of my life), I really had no idea of what to expect in the first semester. In fact, had I known in August what I know now, I would have done some things differently even during the spring and summer before orientation. The point is that business school is of course a great educational opportunity to learn and do new things that many of us have likely never done before. But the warm and fuzzy stuff needed to get in, yields quickly to firing-line called the core. The sooner you figure out what it takes the better you will be. At the Johnson School you will reach your goals, but those are up to you to define.
Ann Richards told me when I first visited Johnson (a few years before applying), that from the moment you step on campus, you will find it important to start closing certain doors because you will not have time to do everything. I knew that she had imparted something special in the comment but little did I realize then just how powerful that would be. The Johnson School motto is Real Impact and believe me the core professors know it and they do a good job of making that loud clear. That might not be the warm and fuzzy stuff of application essays but I hope you are not reading this for warm and fuzzy. There is plenty of glossy literature and online content for that. Although my posts are not always as frequent as I would like, one thing I will promise try to do is to be authentic. Thanks Clint!
# posted by Tory Ragsdale @ 6:27 PM 