CS @ HBS

Hard to believe but it’s OVER. Today was the last day of classes and while we still have three finals next week, I’ll be doing them online in a warmer, better place (aka Israel).

I’m flying tomorrow with some mixed emotions - but mostly happy. It’s been a great year, I had lots of fun, but it wasn’t always the easiest. I’m looking forward to almost a month in Israel with my family, friends, and some HBS friends (more about that in the next post), and to the rest of my summer in Seattle.

But I want to dedicate this post to something else…

I haven’t written much about my HBS section in the blog. I wrote a bit about some amazing things we’ve been doing throughout the year, but didn’t tell you much about The Section Experience. So here goes…

HBS has one of the largest MBA programs - 900 students. To reasonably manage a class size this big and to enable students to get to know some of their classmate more deeply, the class is divided into 10 sections, 90 students each. The section’s diversity represents HBS diversity, and is supposed to be an “HBS microcosm” and include students from different countries and professional backgrounds.

The section spends the entire first year together - in the same classroom, seating in the same assigned seats (which change once, after the first semester). We all study the same 11 mandatory first year courses, with the professors coming to our classroom.

More importantly (coz we all know we’re not here for the courses ;)), the section is the immediate social environment of each student throughout the first year. At the beginning of the year, the section elects about 10 “officers” or “representatives” that handle different aspects of section life - from athletics through budget to academics. One of the more important roles is that of the “Social Chair” - usually done by two people, who organize tons of social activities: from the more “formal” HBS events like Holidazzle, Newport Ball, Priscilla, Section Drinks, to specific section events like end-year dinner, trips, spring break vacations and lots and lots of other stuff.

So you can imagine that if you let yourself, you can really engage in this intense section experience and form a lot of friendships, and just have a good time… Being an Israeli and just who I am in general, I was very skeptical at first of what the “HBS survival guide” described as “Section Love”. Honestly, I thought it’s one of these things Americans do and get over-excited about, and that whatever friendships are created must be superficial and calculated.

BUT, I was very fortunate to be randomly assigned to a truly great section. Maybe every section feels it’s good, but I know that some sections are better than others in the way they get along with each other and feel about themselves as a section. And I honestly believe our section is the best! :)

During lunchtime sometime this week we had lunch in section and anyone who wanted to said a few words about his / her experience this year. At first I thought I wouldn’t talk, I’m usually not into these self-reflectional bla-bla things, but as people were saying really interesting things I realized I have my own things I’d like to say.

So here’s roughly what I said to the section -

“When I first got here I thought - these Americans… they look a bit snobbish. I’m not sure they’ll like me. I felt different from everyone - I mean, everyone’s different, but still I have some objective parameters that make me more different than most. And still, today I feel very comfortable and included within the section. I feel people like me, respect me, and listen to me. And that’s really important to me and make me feel good. And it’s not just me, I think it’s the same with everyone else in the section. And I’m usually not a sentimental person!

“Everyone has been saying that ‘this has been their best year ever’. Well, it wasn’t my best year ever. It was a really hard year. It’s hard to be alone here, it’s hard to study in English, not to understand anything in finance, and a host of other things. At the beginning of the year I used to go to Section Drinks every Wednesday, and sometimes before going I didn’t feel like it, and was thinking to myself ‘it’s too late, it’s too cold’. But every time I did go, I had a fantastic time, and told myself I should be doing this more because these were really things I enjoyed. Sometimes it was the only thing I enjoyed on that particular day.

“I have a blog in which I write my HBS experience, and sometime I write about the amazing things we do, and I always feel like I’m ’showing off’ with the section… like the time we all dressed Black & White for McFarlan…

“And just one more thing - the section isn’t perfect, at least not for me. There are some things that could be improved. But that’s good, because sometimes it’s also fun to complain.”

:)

And a representative picture:

[story to be explained in one of my next posts]

Love you section! Hope everyone’s already back home from dancing on the tables after classes finished today ;)