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MBA Voices
MBA Voices
For years, I’ve been asking myself the following question: what is the most effective way for me to make a difference in the world? Is it through public service, impact investing, social entrepreneurship or even academia? The 2+2 program gave me the runway to actively investigate this question and explore a couple paths – politics and private equity. I first worked as a legislative fellow for my Congresswomen (now Senator) Kyrsten Sinema, who had recently been elected to office. I then pivoted to work in private equity at Cube Hydro Partners - a firm focused on renewable energy infrastructure investments. After 2+2, I decided to continue on the path of impact investing and develop my craft at Social Finance. [...]
While in undergraduate, I was hungry to learn more about leadership and having a positive impact on communities through business leadership. Outside of the classroom, I was very involved with entrepreneurship and small businesses on campus through Harvard Student Agencies (HSA). As a student business manager within HSA, I gained valuable business and leadership experience managing teams of up to 25 employees and helped launch a startup that was venture funded and is still growing today. As I approached my final year of undergraduate, I knew I wanted to get some real-world business experience after graduation, but eventually would want to pursue a management and leadership education. I applied to the 2+2 deferred admission program because it was a great fit for my long-term goals. [...]
The biggest impact HBS had on me was to greatly develop my listening skills. Thanks to the case method, I completely re-learned how to listen to people and understand their arguments. In the case method, everybody has to get in; you do not get to speak very often (once every three class on average). Therefore, you learn the value of listening and trying to get the most out of what the people are saying. These skills prove essential when I try to sketch new processes and new ways of working in my current role because I have to take into account every idea, opinion, and need on subjects in which I have little knowledge or experience. [...]
Hi, my name is Heather Jackson, and I am not supposed to be at Harvard Business School. No, I don’t mean I was an ‘admissions mistake’ (though every single admit, myself included, has thought this countless times). I mean, by every possible statistic, I shouldn’t be here. I grew up in a low-income single-parent household in rural Kentucky - I am talking about a town of 4,000 people and one incredible Betty’s OK Country Cooking restaurant with an out-of-this-world catfish buffet. My parents did not graduate from college, neither did anyone in my family or most other families I knew. Growing up, I did not have any idea what an MBA was or why anyone would need one. [...]
I decided to apply to HBS via the 2+2 deferred admission process because I knew I wanted to be a leader, and I believed HBS was the best place to grow and learn. I’ve always been entrepreneurial and loved to build things. I was excited about the case method and how it continually pressure-tests your ideas and forces you to think critically. There aren’t many other environments where you present and defend your ideas daily in front of 90 people. [...]
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The views and opinions expressed in the MBA Voices blog are those of the authors.
Any political views shared by students are their own; HBS does not endorse a
particular party or candidate.