This past week I was fortunate enough to attend Harvard Business School's 32nd annual Summer Venture in Management Program. The program is essentially a week long introduction to HBS for rising undergraduate seniors interested in pursuing business school in the future. I had the opportunity to engage in class discussions lead by HBS faculty on current management issues, analyze real-business cases with fellow students, and gain exposure to the benefits of HBS and other top MBA programs.
We read and discussed 14 HBS cases over the course of the week, on
topics including creative industries marketing, entrepreneurship, human
capital strategy, and national economic policy. As can be expected, the courses were fantastic, and I learned a lot - but the most valuable part of the experience was certainly the people, both students and faculty, that I was fortunate enough to meet. There was an extremely diverse pool of students in attendance from schools across the country who are currently interning at firms ranging from Disney to Bain & Company (and several fellow Googlers!). I very much look forward to seeing where everyone ends up in a few years. As for the faculty, I certainly feel comfortable in saying they are among the best in the world in their respective fields. One professor,
Anita Elberse, made a particularly strong impact on myself and everyone in attendance. For lack of a better way of putting it: her 'coolness' factor is through the roof. She is a genuine and easy going person, yet extremely on point in her teaching, expertise, and professionalism. I am so grateful she was able to dedicate some of her time to us during the week.
Overall, it was humbling to be surrounded by such intelligent and driven people and attend one of the world's best educational institutions - and I definitely cannot forget to thank the faculty who worked so hard to make SVMP possible. Thank you for an experience that I know will have a profoundly positive impact on my life moving forward.
