B minor

One of the biggest challenges at HBS is the size of the class. There are 900 people in my graduating class. There is no chance, in 2 years, I will have become friends with all of them. That is a difficult thing to come to grips with. There are surely benefits to having a large class size – it increases the diversity of perspective, it increases the network students have upon graduation.

One of the great dillemmas, I suppose, is how to filter for friends in a group so large. My natural tendency is to want to develop close friendships with everyone who impresses me. Unfortunately that group is way too big here. So I have to pick and choose. But how do I do that? How does a person know who would make a good friend. And when I say that, I’m not talking about the type of person you’d want to have a beer with. I’m talking about the type of person who quickly understands who you are, how you are, and why you are.

That has been an incredible challenge so far. I’ve certainly been lucky in that I’ve developed several really awesome friendships since I’ve gotten here, and generally like everyone who is here, but it’s not lost on me that there could be other people in this class who would make great friends too. The trick is finding them…