HBS has sent out first round admission decisions, and a friend of mine was very happy to be accepted at both HBS and Stanford. Upon hearing the news, he rigorously questioned me, “What should I do, where should I go?” I told my friend the dot.com mania may be over, and a lot of people are back into traditional investment banking and consulting roles, but the weather seems to have a more stable pattern than the career desires of the HBS student. Of course, there are more good reasons to choose HBS than I can count, and you know most of them. So I told my friend the story below, which goes way beyond the “academic rigor of our case method program, which will put you through a transformational experience allowing you to have the skills to profit from our humongous alumni network.”
Apparently some of you were confused by the constant mbaevents email list crossfire and missed the Winter Games, last week’s first Color Squad event. Now normally this brings to mind images of skiing and snowboarding, but the Color Squad Winter Games were a completely different experience. Designed to get the September and ultimate (sniff) January cohorts together, this event is part of a series of activities put on by a group of second year volunteers.
The Winter Games were a mix of scout camp, high school, and kindergarten events, as evidence by the small tricycles. Some avid participants even sacrificed their bodies for the experience, as more than one person flew through the air and stumbled on the floor after a bout of dizzy bat. Others sacrificed their pride, literally getting egg in their face while applying a little too much pressure trying to push an egg around the gym floor with their noses. This event sure was fun to watch.
The engineers in attendance used their understanding of physics and put a lot of effort in designing the best paper airplanes. It’s interesting to note that most of them flew in curves and went backwards, and the simplest designs winners were the winners. Another group found relief in brute force activities like the tug-of-war and frozen t-shirt contest. In the latter contestants had to free a frozen shirt from an ice block in the shortest time, and put it on. As you can see, there was a game to match everyone’s capabilities!
Getting back to my recently admitted friend, he can argue that on the West Coast, this event thing could be held outdoorsin January. But hey…is that a real advantage? We have Shad to compensate. And after going trough Crimson greetings, Orientation, and the Winter Games, we can surely count one more reason to come here: the fun of it!
At 25k+ per year, HBS might be the highest priced scout camp you’ll ever visit, but it’s well worth it.
See you at the next Color Squad event!
