To the class of 2015 (Darden, Columbia, Duke, Ross, Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Johnson, Booth, Tepper, Tuck and etc....),
We started our MBA journeys at different times in our lives, but as life would have it all of our paths have now met. As we now await our decisions, I am proud to have forged this fraternity with you all as the class of 2015. As we all know nothing is promised in life; one person's rejection from one school will be another person's acceptance. Regardless of the outcome, we should embrace this moment in our lives and keep our heads up. We all have different reasons to attend graduate school; some of us want to challenge ourselves to be the leaders we always knew we could be, some of us want the fancy MBA name on our resumes to get over $100k and some of us just want to take a time out in our lives and reflect on what we have been doing and where we want to go in the future. All of these decisions are an investment in our personal, educational and professional lives. We all might not end up in our dream schools, but just remember a leader is a leader regardless of the location. I hate to say this, but some of us might not get into any schools this year. If we end up being in this boat, than I guess something better is in store for us. Our lives do not start and end with graduate school. I am not going to cite any famous person, but just know "a man or woman is measured not by how tall they are, but measured by how quickly they rise after they fall". Life is full of disappointments, but we need to turn those disappointments into opportunities. All of us will do great things I promise you that much. Some of us won't end up being consultants, investment bankers or work in private equity. But one thing we are great at and will continue to be great at is surviving and being persistent in our lives. One question I keep asking myself in this whole MBA journey is, "What's the rush?". Why am I rushing to find out if I got in, why can't I just embrace this moment? Because once we get in, we will be rushing to start recruiting and than by the time we know it we will be rushing to graduate, get hired and than whatever comes after that. What are we actually afraid of, that we keep trying to fast forward through life? Maybe we just want to get over the pain quickly and have something good to take the place of it, so we don't have to think about it. As I get older I'm beginning to learn that these are the moments where we know that we are the most alive and these are the moments that define us. I've been scared my whole life that I'll never be the man I dream of being. But looking in the mirror today, I'm proud that I made it this far in life, despite all the obstacles along the way and that is satisfaction in itself. I wish you all the best my friends and genuinely hope we all get what is best for us.
We started our MBA journeys at different times in our lives, but as life would have it all of our paths have now met. As we now await our decisions, I am proud to have forged this fraternity with you all as the class of 2015. As we all know nothing is promised in life; one person's rejection from one school will be another person's acceptance. Regardless of the outcome, we should embrace this moment in our lives and keep our heads up. We all have different reasons to attend graduate school; some of us want to challenge ourselves to be the leaders we always knew we could be, some of us want the fancy MBA name on our resumes to get over $100k and some of us just want to take a time out in our lives and reflect on what we have been doing and where we want to go in the future. All of these decisions are an investment in our personal, educational and professional lives. We all might not end up in our dream schools, but just remember a leader is a leader regardless of the location. I hate to say this, but some of us might not get into any schools this year. If we end up being in this boat, than I guess something better is in store for us. Our lives do not start and end with graduate school. I am not going to cite any famous person, but just know "a man or woman is measured not by how tall they are, but measured by how quickly they rise after they fall". Life is full of disappointments, but we need to turn those disappointments into opportunities. All of us will do great things I promise you that much. Some of us won't end up being consultants, investment bankers or work in private equity. But one thing we are great at and will continue to be great at is surviving and being persistent in our lives. One question I keep asking myself in this whole MBA journey is, "What's the rush?". Why am I rushing to find out if I got in, why can't I just embrace this moment? Because once we get in, we will be rushing to start recruiting and than by the time we know it we will be rushing to graduate, get hired and than whatever comes after that. What are we actually afraid of, that we keep trying to fast forward through life? Maybe we just want to get over the pain quickly and have something good to take the place of it, so we don't have to think about it. As I get older I'm beginning to learn that these are the moments where we know that we are the most alive and these are the moments that define us. I've been scared my whole life that I'll never be the man I dream of being. But looking in the mirror today, I'm proud that I made it this far in life, despite all the obstacles along the way and that is satisfaction in itself. I wish you all the best my friends and genuinely hope we all get what is best for us.
