Dear First Years

Welcome to Owen!  

Nearly a year ago, I was in your shoes. As great as it was, I wouldn't trade with you for the world.  Man, you have a tough year ahead of you. You're probably excited but also wondering what this next year has in store. No one can articulate that to you, so when you ask, don't expect an answer to satisfy your curiosity. You can't understand it until you experience it. I wish I could tell you what it would be like.  I wish I could prepare you for it. You're not in the real world anymore. Welcome to b-school, my friends.  

Expect more stress and more multi-tasking than you've ever experienced, and expect to (more than once) stop and wonder what the hell you're doing and why you left your safe, comfortable life and your consistent paycheck. 

Expect to have a day where you think you're the most intelligent person around, followed by a day where you feel incredibly unqualified and suddenly wonder how they let you in here in the first place.  

Expect to evaluate your entire life, your choices, your past, your future, and expect to ask yourself questions that don't have answers.  

Expect to be challenged by your peers, by your professors, and by recruiters.  

Expect to feel old when you have to go to the bookstore, to the student center, or to anywhere on campus where there are college freshman.  They were all born in 1991 while you were busy having teen-angst and headbanging to Nirvana in your flannel shirt.

Expect to be disappointed.  

Expect to be humbled.

Expect to party as much if not more than you did in college, despite the fact that you're running on minimal sleep and have no business doing a keg stand at 27 years old.  Expect to make questionable decisions, and yes, expect to have the worst hangover of your life.

Expect to experience junior-high level drama amongst your class.  Yeah sure, we're all adults, but there is no escaping the soap opera, no matter what program you're attending.

Expect to make some of the best friends you've had, but also expect to compete with those people for jobs.  

Expect to question what you think are your crystal-clear goals, and expect to question the morality of today's business world and today's business people.

Expect to have a year like no other.  And when it's all said and done, expect to enjoy it.

I would be lying to you if I didn't warn you that it's hell. But I'd also be lying to you if I didn't tell you it was one of the most exciting times of my life.  Aside from all the work, business school is fun. Think about all the new people you're about to meet.  Think about how much you will learn, and think about your future and how exciting the opportunity is.  Think about why you're here, and think about what you expect to accomplish.  Think about how you'll feel as a second year like me, coming back from a summer internship, and think about how you'll define success.

So in all your excitement next week, think about your expectations. Think about what Owen can do for you.  And most of all, enjoy it.