“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”
It took a while for me to realize that I don't just want to feel accomplished. I want to feel alive. The images on my resumé are not the only ones in my dreams, and there is no reason to pretend they should be. In addition to solar cars, ophthalmic implants, and malaria meds I've worked on, I see fingers stained from blackberry picking, the whoosh of windsurfing, the laughter of friends and family, and the satisfaction of doing something truly good. It's the mix of these images that make me feel alive and energized.

I also realize that these images, like the one above, are selected from an absurdly lucky life.

I want to harness that good luck, pouring myself into the issues I find most urgent and sharing my good fortune with others around the world. Forget work-life balance. My work and my life will not carry equal and opposite weight. I am looking for a work-life alignment. I have the rare opportunity to make the images of my dreams overlap with images I see every day, and I plan to do just that.

— Joel Segre

The Portrait Project

Each year we ask our classmates a straightforward, simple question taken from the lines of a poem by Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Mary Oliver. We share with you intimate and candid responses to this question, "Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"

Concept and photography: Tony Deifell, MBA '02

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