Friday, I officially notified my leadership team at Pratt & Whitney that I’ll be leaving in a couple of months as my wife Ebony and I prepare to move to Boston, where I’ll be earning my MBA at HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL!
But wait, there’s more — Ebony graduates from Pharmacy School in May AND she has a residency! I am so proud of her: She got the offer for her #1 choice after competing against applicants from all across the nation. Now she’ll further her education as a pharmacy resident at a leading hospital in Boston.
Yeah Baby!!!!!!
This is a dream come true for us both! The timing could not have worked out any more perfectly, and frankly we still can’t quite believe this new chapter of adventure unfolding in our lives.
There are so many people to thank. First, I am eternally grateful to Ebony for her unyielding encouragement and support as I’ve pursued this dream over the last few years. I would not have found the strength to keep going without her love or that of my family. My friends believed in me when I doubted myself and kept me motivated the whole way through. I will always remember that. I did not do this alone.
And of course, I’m grateful to Harvard Business School! The HBS community in general and HBS Alumni in particular have been wonderful to me, even before I was accepted. I can’t wait until day one when I take my seat in the HBS MBA Class of 2019! I also want to thank everyone at the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It was a privilege to meet all of you and I remain flattered by the generous offer extended to me by MIT Sloan.
This MBA quest has been the most daunting challenge of my career:
My journey started years ago, when I knew that I wanted to earn my MBA but wasn’t sure how to do it. I dreamed of Harvard, but doubted for years if I even had a shot at getting in. After some research, I thought that there may be a chance — I decided to give it everything I had.
After the interview
I studied for months on end, eventually taking the GMAT 3 times. I agonized over my essays and revised them more times than I care to remember. When I was invited to interview on campus, I knew that just 30 minutes would determine the trajectory of the rest of my life. I did my best not to screw it up. Then I waited. Finally, at noon on decision day, I got the good news and immediately proceeded to jump up and down in my living room like an excited little kid.
Though I am truly overjoyed to be making this announcement, the next few months will be bittersweet for us – there are a lot of people we’ll miss. We will be farther from our families and friends than ever before. I’ll be leaving an incredible team of employees, not to mention co-workers, community associates, and neighbors.
These past 6 years have been a valuable experience for me. I’ve learned so much, and I hope to share those lessons through my writing in the coming months.
For now, though I am brimming with anticipation, I remain focused on closing things out here in the coming weeks. Much work remains to be done before we head off on the road trip of a lifetime.
So then, the clock is ticking. The countdown has begun. We are Harvard bound.
