Mark and Jie's Journey to B-School

Walking back from the gym today I pondered the meaning and value of my experiences here at HBS.  I think this is a fantastic place to spend two years but it seems to me that the value lies not in the education but instead in the features of the school.  The people, students and professors, have a profound effect upon the experience, enriching the learning experience far above the actual learning.  There are also the opportunities created, due to the reputation of the school and the network, that are only available at comparable educational institutions.  After all that, though, I still think of HBS as an expedient of success rather than cause of it.  In the working world people only care about where you went to school for a little while, after that it’s about how you do the job.  If career success is like climbing a ladder, perhaps HBS is an elevator that starts you off at a higher rung but doesn’t necessarily push you to the top.  Getting there is about your skills and abilities (and luck!) and not as much about where you went to school.  Or I could just be hopelessly naïve.

I found several bands on Napster to Go that I’m really enjoying: Beth Orton, The Postal Service, and Arctic Monkeys.