When the email arrived – “HBS SVMP Decision Available Online” – it caught me by surprise. I took a breath and read the message: Accepted! As I planned my trip to attend HBS’s Summer Venture in Management Program, I saw scenes of Cambridge rolling like a film in my mind’s eye: discussing case studies with vigor and enthusiasm in the dorm common areas; receiving the infamous “HBS cold call” from Professor Anita Elberse, or worse, from Lebron James, Beyoncé, LL Cool J, or the many other case protagonists she likes to “bring to life”; dashing with my classmates to make it to breakfast and morning discussion groups; and trading stories of life experiences and sidesplitting tales of professional gaffes in the HBS courtyard. Whatever awaited me at Harvard Business School, I thought, would be unforgettable. [...]