Day in the Life

The first real day of the program began one early summer Monday morning. Waking up, brushing my teeth, and matching my socks, I set off for the Williams Breakfast Room with three other students- one from New Mexico , another from Texas and another from Florida . We had the entire southern half of America covered. Even though most college students weren't used to getting up so early in the summer morning, we were ready and willing to make the sacrifice. After all, it is the Harvard Business School . It's a place where some really renowned professors know your name. Here, the students will someday become the premier movers and shakers of the American, and perhaps global, industry. My heart was beating fast and my mind was racing with details of three cases I had read and analyzed the night before. Was I ready for my first day at business school? Time would tell.

At breakfast I learned that an engineer from New Mexico could be just as interested in business school as a senior at Cornell majoring in government and history. I learned what everyone wanted to do, where they wanted to go after college and what plans they had in store for the rest of their lives. Wow. I was impressed. SVMP students are some of the most diversely talented and passionate individuals I have met in my entire college experience. Cornell offered some diversity, but Harvard's SVMP program epitomized the ideal cross-cultural experience. I was in the company of some great students and some amazingly aspiring and incredible future business people.

After our breakfast was over, we headed to our morning study group session. This was the first time I had ever met in the morning for a study session. I was used to meeting during the day, so I made sure to bring some strong caffeinated coffee. You really have no idea what to expect at your first business school study session. I came prepared with questions, more questions and some answers- at least I hoped- for our first case, “Ducati.” The study session went well. My group was well prepared to prep this case- but probably not quite prepared for our first “cold call.” So we prepped by randomly asking possible cold call questions. Were we being as intimidating as our Harvard professors would be? We had no idea. We then prepped two other cases: Prozac/Paxil and Airbus A3XX. After close to an hour of cold call preparations, we downed the last bit of coffee and headed to class with a nervous and jittery excitement.

The professor's cold call wasn't directed to me, but I felt I could have handled it, if it had been. That case went well. We all were extremely impressed that Harvard Business School regularly has alumni who currently run major business and lead major industries, visit the school and speak with HBS students. We were able to watch an interactive video of Ducati's chief executive discussing his company's business strategy and marketing goals for the new millennium.

Professor Badaracco briefed the case with such alacrity and ease that it made everyone feel comfortable and willing to discuss any and all aspects of Ducati's future business plan. No one was left out in our class. Almost everyone at SVMP, despite the fact that we had absolutely no obligations or grades, wanted to be involved in discussing the Ducati case. I was definitely one who wanted to discuss Ducati's future. Imagine, only days before I had known nothing about the quaint, but complicated motorcycle industry and now, I felt confident to discuss their strategy with the CEO of Ducati himself. This was the SVMP experience: a new-found confidence in your business skills and an encouraging belief that my ideas do matter.

The class went well, and after a short break, our SVMP class was back and ready for Airbus A3XX. Professor Esty had a huge presence. He had been to Iraq in the aftermath of the second War in Iraq , camped out behind one of Saddam Hussein's palaces, and helped restructure the fiscal system of this war torn country. What an experience to share. I was thoroughly impressed with his accomplishments and even more so with how the class went. The class was scheduled for a little over an hour, but students kept asking questions and we didn't get out of class for close to two hours. No one noticed. Unlike most students' college experiences where the minutes and seconds go by like time passes under the desert sun, time flew too quickly. I learned tons about the airline industry and gave my own input as to whether a major airline should invest billions into a new airplane model. This large-scale financial endeavor would be major turning point for not only the company, but also the industry.

By the time the day was over I was exhausted, but ready for more. Each day at SVMP went by too quickly. I felt like we all should have stayed the entire summer. Unfortunately however, we were left with just one week. I enjoyed the experience more than any other summer program or internship I've ever had. I would recommend the SVMP experience to anyone in the world. If I get the chance someday to go to Harvard Business School , I'll thank all the wonderful people with SVMP for their help in bringing me to a place and sharing an experiencing for a lifetime. I will never forget how helpful, thoughtful and caring the people were with SVMP and the Harvard Business School .

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