Harvard Portrait Project, MBA Class Of 2022

JEFF BARKAS, MBA ’22

My grandparents could do everything, until one day, they couldn’t.

I was used to the weekends when I would play tennis matches and card games with my grandpa and enjoy my grandma’s famous chicken cutlets.

They were so healthy into their 90s that my family never talked about the end of their lives.

Then, we noticed a change. We heard about my grandma’s lost car keys, and we learned of my grandpa’s missed doctor appointments. Their health rapidly declined, and my family scrambled to care for them and search for elder care professionals.

Emotions and expenses ran high, and many of their final good days were spent signing legal and financial documents.

Their passing has given me a new sense of purpose — to ensure that other families avoid a similar experience. I’m starting a company that helps families prepare for aging so that they can spend time on relationships, not on paperwork.

Statistics indicate that my startup is likely to fail. But, if I can help even one family, I know that my grandpa will be looking down and saying, “I’m proud of you, kiddo.”

 

JUSTINE LEE, MBA ’22

My mom taught me that the world’s problems could be solved by smiling. Whenever we walked past someone, she would beam and cheerfully say, “Hello!”. She has had long conversations with strangers more times than I can count, treating each as if they have a fascinating story to tell and there is something meaningful she can learn.

When I was younger, I found this embarrassing. But as I got older (to my horror), I started to say “Hello” too. Smile. Strike up conversation. And the more I wanted to keep doing it. People from different corners of life taught me things I couldn’t learn from the classroom or my network, like how to find fulfillment as an immigrant or what it feels like to lose your partner or how to let go of your kids when all you want to do is hold on.

When we leave HBS, our education isn’t over. It continues with people we meet on the street. It continues with seeing everyone as being able to teach us as much about the world as we can teach them. It continues with a smile.

Everyone has a story. It’s up to us to figure it out.

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