When Harvard MBAs Turn Introspective: The Class of 2012

Sahar Meghani: “I want to live for two.” Photo by and courtesy of Tony Deifell.

And there is Sahar Meghan, who tells a heartrending story of losing her sister, Suhaila, three months before arriving at HBS. “I turn 28 this year,” she reflects. “It is how old Suhaila was when she was taken from me. I feel both grateful and guilty to have been given time that she never had. Being older than my older sister makes me realize that I want to live each day fully, for myself, but also for her. I want to really laugh again, like we always did.”

‘THE STUDENTS ARE SPENDING MORE TIME REFLECTING ON THE QUESTION’

This year’s batch of 32 essayists—chosen from 117 entries–is among the very best ever. Over the years, believes Deifell, the essays have risen in quality, with more graduates expressing entrepreneurial desires and goals of returning home to help make the developing markets more open and productive. “The students are spending more time reflecting on the question so the quality of the stories and essays have become stronger,” says Deifell. “And more students are willing to claim their identities publicly, whether they are gay, lesbian, or bisexual, especially in the last few years.”

When he started pointing a camera and asking classmates about their future plans ten years ago, Deifell had begun with only his section mates in what was then Section K. But from the very start, he harbored super-sized ambitions for his photographic exhibit. “To a certain degree, I hoped it would affect the culture of the school,” he says. “That was a little grandiose at the time, but part of me feels it is having the impact I dreamt it could have. I certainly didn’t envision that the school would take such ownership of it and make it part of the required curriculum.”

Indeed, when Harvard’s new MBAs arrived last fall, the school incorporated the project into its new first-year course called Field Immersion Experiences for Leadership Development (FIELD). First-year students were walked through a special exhibit of 20 of the essays selected through the first nine years of the Portrait Project. The students then were guided through a reflective exercise by faculty during which they answered the big question asked by poet Mary Oliver.

The essays and the pictures of their authors also hang in Dillon House, where the admissions staff is located. So applicants who come to campus for either information session or admission interviews also get an early glimpse of the project and the message it inevitably sends about the school’s higher purpose to train leaders with the potential to change the world for the better.