Harvard, Stanford & Wharton All Say ‘Yes’ To This Inspiring Applicant

What gave Harvard the edge? Why Harvard? Why not Stanford? Why not Wharton?

Harvard, for me, was the school that I felt like I had the least chance of getting into, so I had, I would say, an unhealthy relationship with it — like, “You know, I’m not really going to apply, but I’m going to apply to shoot my shot, and if I don’t get in, oh well.” But for me, when I was a kid, I would say I was going to go to Harvard Law School because I wanted to prosecute the men that killed my mom — that was like a driving force in me. And I even wrote about it in my article, called My CPA Journey, on LinkedIn. And when I was a kid people would say, “Oh, you like to argue, you should be a lawyer.” So that was always going to be my thing.

I realized I didn’t want to be a lawyer, but once I got into Harvard and I saw where all the alumni went and the brand, and I know that I don’t only want to work in business, I don’t want to work outside of business. And that day I got into Harvard and Stanford my family said, “Oh my God, you got into Harvard.” It was like, everybody knows Harvard. And so, being able to transcend business, and even the U.S., is something that I want to do. And by having that Harvard brand, I was able to do that.

And Stanford is a great school, and I want to work in tech, work in the VC tech space. And you know, Stanford is great for that, but I know that that’s not my destination. That’s a part of my journey. And I know that I want to be a speaker, and I want to have impact to help others. And the way to do that is having a strong brand name on your resume. And also the curriculum and everything is great as well — but nothing beats the Harvard brand. Right? I don’t think so.

You were thinking Harvard Law, and because you wanted to become a lawyer because of this terrible tragedy in your past. I have to ask you about that: You were five years old when your mother was killed. That’s the kind of thing that a lot of people would not have dealt with as well as you have.

My mom died December 1st, 1998. And that night I told my mom not to leave, I had a very eerie feeling that I was never going to see her again, so I said, “Mommy, don’t leave. I want you to stay home with me and put me on a bus in the morning.”

And that night I could not sleep. And I think that was like my warning to her, to stay. And then I woke up the next morning and my mom’s sister and my god-mom and her friends came in and told me that my mom had passed, and it was all over the news. Like the news people were coming around and called, it was a spectacle. I remember the news interviewing me and I wasn’t sad or crying, and I said, “I told her not to leave, but she didn’t listen to me.” And everybody was looking at this 5-year-old kid like, “Did he really just say this?” I don’t know if I had a grasp of what was happening, but I had some level of maturity, or understanding, at that point. But you know, it was tough because I’m my mom’s only child, and my dad’s only child.

No one has custody of me, now the families are at odds and I’m in the middle. You know, spending summers here, and moving here, and moving around. And it was tough. My aunt had lost her only maternal sister, and then six months after my mom died, my aunt’s husband goes to prison, so she has four kids and then me, so it was tough. Like a lot of things I didn’t share on LinkedIn, because I want to protect the privacy of everyone’s story. I wanted to share my story. But life was tough. And my aunt did a phenomenal job of instilling an education in all of us and letting us know that, this is your way out. What’s around you, this is not it, keep focusing on school.

And I always kept that, even after I moved with my dad’s side of the family when I was 12, and I made sure that I was accountable and responsible for my education. And that was a tough situation. I remember, I was in the sixth grade and a guy was standing in front of my house with an envelope and subpoenaed me and my auntie to court to testify on my mom’s case. And I am the one that ended up doing it, going to the state attorney’s office after school, writing a deposition and getting on the stand and looking at one of the men responsible for my mom’s death and talk, telling them, telling the jury how much my mom meant to me. And at 11 years old, that was a traumatizing experience but, also a liberating one.

Would you say that your aunt was the most important person in your life growing up?

My grandma is the most important, has always been the most important person in my life because, she showed me the most love. My mom has a baby, I’m my mom’s only child. My grandma took a huge loss; seeing me was like seeing her daughter. And so she always loved on me and gave me that love that I needed that no one else could give me, because she’s my mom’s mom. So, she would probably be the closest person that can do it. My auntie was definitely an important fixture but I would say my grandma was my motivation to do well because, once my mom passed away, my grandma had a nervous breakdown and she wasn’t herself anymore.

So my goal was to do well so I can take care of her, so now I’m able to do that. So, when she needs something I can provide and she’s like, “You’re going to school.” And I’m like, “You know what? I got you. I’ve been prepared for this, so you’re going to be OK.”

Why accounting? And are you planning a pivot now that you’re going to HBS?

(Laughs) So, accounting is all of my aunt, that’s my mom’s sister. So, my aunt had a 99-cent store called Angel’s 99 Cent Store, named after my mom, and I used to work the cash register as a kid. So I know how to calculate tax. You know what? It was 6%, 7%, I rang customers up and did inventory, I would go to the warehouse with her to restock on different things. So that kind of got my interest in business. And when I got into high school, I had to do a project on a job. So, me being me, I Googled, “What job has 0% unemployment?” Google was like, “Accounting.” So, I was like, “Oh, CPA, OK, I’m going to do this” — at 14. Then I had a teacher that said “You’re good at math, you should be an accountant.” That solves that! “Okay, I am going to go in business and you’re telling me I should do it, it’s 0% unemployment, let’s do it.” And so that’s kind of how I got there.

Well, I did it in college, and I had some reservations about it, but it worked out.

I have never done accounting a day in my life. I have always been a consultant. So, yeah. I interned in account… Well, I lie. I interned in accounting at PwC for three months in audit. I said, “I will never be an auditor. I will never be in tax. I’m going to be a consultant.” I’m also outgoing and creative, which is why I want to do consulting. So I started my consulting career with EY after my master’s program, so I’ve been in consulting. But to answer your question about pivoting, yes, I’m looking to pivot in the tech VC space, what to invest in tech startups. And also, as you know, I have an interest in product management, within tech as well. So, I’m considering those options.

Because our audience is largely people who are considering business school, those right at the beginning of the process, if you had a message for those people maybe thinking, “I can’t get into Harvard, I think I can’t get into Wharton, I can’t do it” — what would it be?

I would tell them, you miss a hundred percent of the shots that you don’t take. And I would say, when life throws you lemons, you make orange juice and you keep the world guessing how you did it. Whatever obstacles you’re facing while you’re applying to business school, don’t be ordinary and do what’s expected. You get lemons, you make lemonade? No. Go beyond that. Figure out a way. If it’s the GMAT, take the GRE. If it’s an essay, reach out to other individuals for help. You know, you have to stay the course and tap into that resilient spirit that we all have, and persevere. That’s what I’d tell them to do.

DON’T MISS FIRST GEN: INSPIRING STORIES OF MBAs WHO BEAT THE ODDS and HBS ADMIT’S TRAGEDY: HER FATHER KILLED HER MOTHER, THEN HIMSELF