Now Into The Next Stage Of His B-School Path: The Network

I haven’t even started business school and I’m aflutter with new ideas and ambitions.  The past two weeks have launched me into the next stage of my business school path: the Network.  And I am already blown away by the opportunities and connections buzzing around me.  If the events I’ve attended and the people I’ve spoken with are any indication of things to come, I can only imagine the extent I will grow and change during business school.

The past two weeks I’ve attended Yale SOM and Kellogg events, spoken with admitted prospectives, current students, and alums, and talked my poor boyfriend’s ears off. In particular, the career center reps were knock-your-socks-off awesome.

I was able to chat for a good 30 minutes with staff from both schools and they already had me churning with new ideas: from potential internships with Bridgespan, an arm of Bain Capital, which provides consulting to non-profits, and Parthenon, which consults for public schools, to a post-MBA fellowship with the Broad Foundation, which places fellows in leadership roles within urban school districts.

I am super enthusiastic by all these career possibilities and love how helpful the career center people have been, from putting me into contact with alumni to explaining their recruitment efforts on campus. I have heard online how frustrated people are with the career centers at their schools, so I’m wondering if it’s just hard to get face time on campus when you’re competing with some hundred other students.

In addition, I’ve had enlightening conversations with current students who have worked for Teach for America, KIPP, Citizen Schools, among other places.  It’s super exciting to know that “my people” are going to be on campus with me the next two years, wherever I end up.

All in all, the number of intersections between business and education is already flouncing around my mind like Mexican jumping beans.  The possibilities are endless and as an ambitious and driven person, I’m ready to seize them!

I’m pretty close to making a final decision, but just dotting my i’s and crossing my t’s before making the big announcement.  That and hoping I can do some money talking to reduce the debt load.

In the meantime, look out for a post from my +1 this week!

Sassafras is a 29-year-old MBA applicant who works for a San Francisco-based non-profit organization with a primary focus on youth development and education. With a 730 GMAT and a 3.4 grade point average from a highly ranked liberal arts college, he currently blogs at MBA: My Break Away? His previous posts for Poets&Quants: