CELEBRATING OUR DIFFERENCES

At the beginning of the fall of 2016, we decided to create a diversity and inclusion representative on the Tuck student board. We began programming events and developing other initiatives to celebrate diversity and inclusion. I was really proud of this because 1. It represents the values of Tuck—of celebrating our differences and creating wise business leaders. 2. It was a complete student-led initiative. 3. It was a collaboration between the first- and second-year students.

One event students organized was a small group dinner with a great mix of people. Students were asked specific questions that got to the heart of who they are, like “What’s an event that was a critical moment in your life?” For me, that would be coming to this country from Pakistan, and then 9/11. People walked away from that dinner with a new perspective on their classmates—some walked away in tears. If you give people an opportunity to share things about themselves, they will.

MORE THAN JUST BUSINESS

If you look at people who have been successful 20 or 30 years down the road, the one thing they always have in common is incredible personal awareness and development. That’s something business school gives you, and it’s hard to get anywhere else. You’re with people from completely different cultures and countries than your own, and they all bring different perspectives. Whether you’re in a study group with different people, or in a classroom being exposed to different ideas and constructively arguing about things—that component of personal development is really hard to develop outside of a rigorous, residential two-year program where you are thrown into the fire.

You build these incredible bonds with people—they’re bonds for life. The Tuck experience is just not replicable.

BETTERING THE WORLD OF BUSINESS & SOCIETY

What Tuck really gives you extends beyond just the fundamentals of business—it gives you leadership training. The business skills you receive form the basis for leadership development and for how to structure problems. In my past life, I was on the board of a nonprofit that worked in affordable housing. As an immigrant, it was cathartic to help others achieve what I thought was a part of the American dream: owning a home. However, with my Tuck degree, there are so many more ways in which I could have been a better board member—from the way to look at marketing campaigns to how we interacted with our community. I hope to apply the principles I have learned at Tuck to better the world of business and society.