#lifeathbs

COMING HOME TO HBS

My son Francesco was 3 months old when I started at HBS in August 2014. In the winter break of my EC year, my little daughter Giulia Maria was born. Francesco was 2 and a half and Giulia Maria was 8 months old when I started my job at Microsoft in Silicon Valley right after graduation.

Since my husband and I were starting a family at the same time I was starting my MBA, I applied only to schools that met the following two criteria:

Located where my husband would have been able to relocate with his job;

Was a top school. Since we were moving out of our home country of Italy (and literally out of our lives) our financial, emotional, and time investment had to be very much worth it.

HBS matched both criteria, and when I got accepted, I simply had no doubts. Three years post-graduation, I have never thought once that I could have made a better choice, and here’s why.

Spring on Campus

Spring has sprung 🌸 Share your campus photos with #LifeatHBS

LONG DISTANCE RELATIONSHIPS: WHAT IF MY PARTNER CAN’T JOIN ME AT HBS?

Making decisions together can be complicated. It's important to consider how your goals align with your partner’s, and sometimes they may not line up perfectly. That was the case for me when I got married just before moving to Boston and joining the HBS MBA Class of 2020. My wife stayed back home in Sao Paulo, Brazil, as I experienced the life of an MBA student in Boston. Here is how I go about bridging the physical and emotional gap between us.

Exploring careers

Before attending Harvard Business School I tried various careers, ranging from more traditional to the atypical. First, I wanted to explore a traditional career in a fast-paced and exciting environment, so I spent 2 years working as a consultant at McKinsey & Company, Sao Paulo. After those years in consulting, I decided to roll up my sleeves and work on the implementation of great ideas by joining the International Strategy team at Gympass, a fitness and well-being startup. Throughout all those years, HBS was always on my radar. I knew that to become a better leader – be it in consulting or a start-up – HBS would give me the tools to make real change in the world.

None of this was a surprise for my Marina. We have been together for almost 8 years now and have always discussed our paths and next steps together. We met during undergrad and have been together through a lot of change. We lived in Copenhagen, we supported each other in career switches, and we talk a lot about how to help each other accomplish our dreams. Today, Marina works in the Non-profit space in Sao Paulo for a global organization that supports entrepreneurs in developing countries. When it came to me going to school in another country, we worked toward it together.

Opt for time with your partner even when you’re far away

At HBS we talk a lot about FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). FOMO is that feeling of getting caught up in the millions of different things happening at once and never feeling like you’re doing enough. Of course, we would love to be in multiple places at once, but eventually, you must decide how to allocate your time. Maybe you’ll face a situation where it’s your anniversary and you want to Skype with your partner, but the only time you’re both available coincides with a Section event. My advice: whenever you face a decision like this, opt for the time with your partner. There will always be another event, but that special moment of bonding with your partner can mean so much to your relationship, and that is something you really don’t want to miss out on. HBS presents you with a multitude of choices, but in the end, your calendar is yours to manage – except for classes, of course! Most of us left a big part of our lives outside of campus, and it’s okay to take time off to reconnect with your roots.