In the academic circle, the last lecture is a tradition, where the professor delivers his final lecture to his students, but as a student, you can give a lecture, but nobody will listen. Hence, I decided to write my last blog entry of the year. As I began to think about what I should write (in MBA parlance it’s called reflection), only one thought came to my mind and it was about the people, who shared this journey with me.
As I began the journey in January, I knew I will meet a bunch of individuals who will have a different perspective than me. At the end of this journey in December, I can confidently say although there were different perspectives, there was always a converging point. As every journey has its ups and down so did this one, however when you are with people who go the extra mile for you, even the failures were not difficult to accept and move on. The journey was crazy, freaky, and even sometimes scary, but it was never mundane and it was this way because of the few noble souls who shared this journey with me. George Washington once remarked “Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence.” this year was the trial to find those rare few and I can proudly say that I found those rare gems.
As I now move on from the small world that we created as ESMT MBA 2011, there are bigger challenges and even greater opportunities and to both tackle the challenges and seize the opportunities, I know I have my friends by my side. Now what did I get out of the journey, did I become wiser than I was before? No. Did I become a better person than I was? Maybe not, however, what I did get out of this journey is a few friendships that will last a lifetime and no one can better phrase it than the words of Albert Camus when he remarked “Don’t walk behind me; I may not lead. Don’t walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.” and I can proudly say this journey will continue as we walk forward continuously towards our goals as friends side by side. Finally, to conclude in a few words of what this year meant to me, it is okay to be a rebel, but find a cause worthy enough to rebel for. Carpe Diem.
JBF
(The last post)
