Harvard Business School - Yearbook (Boston, MA)

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I have a perspective not shared by many of you ln that this IS my second time on the Harvard Business School merry go round The reasons for my orlglnal de parture as well as their subsequent Influences on my hfe are of less Import than the simple facts that 11 I knew precisely what to expect from the school and what would be expected of me 25 I had a personal vold that required satlsfactlon and 31 I was determined to make this trlp on my own terms to fulflll my subjective academic goals whrle being molded unto the usual form no more than I chose to The Harvard Business School has many constructive opportunities everyone IS aware of that What most people are bllnd to IS the negative slde of thas 'expe rlence Many aspects of the place are abhorrent to more than my contemporary values, and when I see so many young men and women bllthely acceptmg lm posed attitudes and values and submlttlng themselves to the assembly lme for mass productlon of executives It quite frankly saddens me Yet I feel that these past two years have been far and away the most profitably spent years of my young hfe Thus, of course, IS entlrely personal But because of I I I I I be. . . . . . . , ' Il - I I ' I . . ,

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Despair? Did someone say despair was a question in the world? Well then, listen to the sons of those who have known little else if you wish to know the resil- iency of this thing you would so quickly resign to mythhood, this thing called the human spirit . . . 51

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it, I can hardly condemn Harvard. Rather, I condemn those who enter, pass through, and exit without so much as a backward glance, or a sideways glance, or even a peek out the window. It would sewe no purpose for me to suggest areas of advantage and dis- advantage. To a large degree these are quite personal, and their worth is doubtful if you can't derive them for yourself. But I urge you toward some degree of in- trospection on the nature of your experience here before you enter the business world, or wherever. We have all acquired numerous skills of unlimited potential value to our careers and perhaps to society. I hope only that the competitive en- vironment has not stifled our perspective on the value and the order of all things, for it certainly has not stimulated it. And I close with a profound and sincere thanks to Harvard Business School, not for what it gave me, but for what I was able to give myself while under its tut- elage. l grew up here, I pray that not too many of you travelled in the opposite direction.