The one thing that most adults have in common is work. From a Supreme Court Justice to a cashier at a fast food restaurant, they all have a workplace with unique challenges that must be addressed. Last year I had an opportunity to interact with various workplaces and I learned something valuable about the world of work. In May, select students from my school traveled to Washington D.C to meet with top-level government officials. The highlight the trip was planning a question to ask to Justice Sotomayor...
I have found happiness nestled between the pages of The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius and I am often hurled into fits of woeful lamentation when I remember that The Picture of Dorian Gray is the only novel that Oscar Wilde will ever write. Instead, I must content myself with reading and rereading every exquisite phrase until the pages are worn thin from over use.I am an insatiable reader, ripping through the volumes in libraries like a tornado...
As my classmates surrounded me in homeroom, inspecting the latest “import” from England, I could feel their eyes boring into me as they decided whether to put me on the chopping block. It was during first period, when one of my assessors asked me if I was coming to the football game, that I knew I was going to be just fine. By then, I had bigger problems to solve – particularly the unsettling meeting with my school counselor...
I’ve lived a privileged life: my family is caring, safety has never been an issue, and financial struggles have been few and far between. My father lost his job in 2006, right before the recession, causing my family and me to cut back on many of the luxuries we had grown used to over the years. I’ve never really taken anything for granted, but it is true that you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone...
Ben Franklin once said, 'All mankind is divided into three classes: those that are immovable, those that are movable, and those that move.'
Which are you?
I don't believe in strict boundaries; I think my desire to study both engineering and business demonstrates this. One needs aspects of more than one class to live a meaningful life. I’ll begin with “those that are immovable”, the class most looked down upon, but the one that describes the very nature of dedication and determination. To be immovable in your passion for an activity or goal is an admirable trait to have. It means you will not be swayed from your ultimate goal...
{Discuss your interest in combining management and technology. How might Penn's coordinated dual-degree program in business and engineering help you meet your goals?}
Most of my family has studied business: my mother, father, cousins, and grandparents. I've been told I'd make a good businessman, and I agree, but I could be more than that too. I'm not content with just making money; I believe I was put in this world not so much for what I could get out of it as for what I could put into it (Should I quote Paul Ransom?). This philosophy is what drives me to study engineering...
A group of blind men touch different parts of an elephant to determine what the animal is like. One man touches the tusks and notes that an elephant must be like a pipe. Another touches the side and thinks the animal is like a wall. When the men convene, they realize their notes do not match up. The men begin to argue, bickering about how each of the others are wrong until they learn to listen and determine how the elephant really looks; a combination of all arguments...
With a final push of the thumb, the familiar click beckons to the descending needle as it pierces the skin and delivers its chilling liquid, which now flows within me. The pain is tremendous and moments resemble eternities until, finally, the second click arrives and the needle ascends into its final resting space, its duty now complete. With the band-aid properly placed and the needle tossed into the trash, I continue where I left off: studying power series and cranial nerves. As I look back on the events of these past years, I am reminded of how far I’ve come...
{Please provide an example of a team failure of which you’ve been a part. If given a second chance, what would you do differently?}
My most impactful professional setback came when I was a young consultant at [redacted firm], where a project failure gave me critical lessons in self-awareness, communication, and responsibility, each of which became essential components of my later achievements. Though I was still a junior consultant, I accepted the task of being the project manager for a major Business Performance Management (BPM) initiative at a large floor covering company in Alabama...
{Master Classes are the epitome of bridging the gap between theory and practice at [school name] Business School. Please provide an example from your own life in which practical experience taught you more than theory alone.}Attending Babson College gave me the opportunity to study business administration and learn the basics of management. I learned many business, economic, and financial theories, and group projects allowed me to better learn the material and present results and recommendations. Although teamwork was emphasized, the importance of the team was dulled because these groups were often sets of individuals, each working on delegated tasks, and rarely thinking, working, and acting as a team...
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