All Good Things Must Come to an End

Lovely classmate, Katie Collings, at graduation

Twenty months of living and breathing the Foster MBA Program has come to an end. Now all I can do is relish in having a summer off, comfortably knowing that a consulting job is waiting for me at the other end of it. After all of this time I still find myself in awe of how much I loved being part of this program – the tremendous friends I made, the soul crushing volume of work I produced, the mastery of functioning on too little sleep and too many Americanos. There is no doubt that all of these assets, and the many others collected, will be invaluable in the years to come as my post-grad life and career meanders through time.

I have a good friend who is rather cynical of MBA programs and has had a front row seat watching my life over the past two years. Something he often mentions is how much of a “joiner” you have to be as an MBA. You join clubs, boards, committees, social circles, teams. There is easily something to join every night of the week – happy hours, dinner outings, pick up sports games. As an insider I argue that it is less about joining and more about that age old philosophy – “work hard, play hard.” MBA students work a ton, even if they are brilliant rocket scientists (like our classmate Carl). Therefore, when the time comes, they celebrate just as much.

Celebrating the end of our time together at Foster began in early April, ramped up in late May and finally culminated at the actual ceremony last weekend as we boisterously cheered one another on while each of us made our way across the stage to receive our diploma.

As much as I look forward to being reacquainted with the concept of a weekend and embarking on a new career, I know that the past two years will always be remembered as some of the very best of my life. Because of that, I can’t help but find myself jealous of those of you who are just beginning the MBA journey. Jump in, hold on and enjoy every moment.

And thanks for reading.

Jessica Didion – MBA, Class of 2010