I love my section. Everyday I feel lucky to be in a class full of fun, smart, energetic, ambitious, interesting and collaborative classmates. In P1, our section successfully pulled off several fun class pranks on our professors that scared (in a good way) some while amused others. My 70 classmates from my section come from over 40 countries. While I’ve always known that each person has a fascinating story, I really didn’t know just how incredible each one was until last week.
The new initiative, “Talk IN”, made me appreciate INSEAD and my classmates even more. It was inspired by the Stanford GSB MBA talk where students share intimate stories about themselves—beyond the standard questions of “where are you from,” “what did you do before,” and “what do you want to do after MBA?” It’s certainly not for everyone since it can be uncomfortable for those who are more private so only those brave enough to share their stories will volunteer to speak.
Not many classmates knew what to expect with the talk but in just 20 minutes, the first speaker stunned the class by exposing her past failures and insecurities. It was shocking for many of us to hear that our seemingly perfect classmate had such a tumultuous past. On the surface, she seems like the model MBA candidate: driven, intelligent, confident, international and accomplished. However her intimate stories exposed a different person – someone who also has fears and vulnerabilities. It took incredible courage to share a story like hers and it allowed our class to get to know her at a completely new level. With just one story, she broke down the superficial barriers by reminding us we are all human.
The next day, more students opened up and shared stories in our business ethics class. My fellow classmates shared stories about their experience with war, medical ethics, theft, etc. We soon concluded ethics is highly subjective depending on the culture we’re in. The in class discussion that our classmates shared were even more profound than those in our business ethics case studies and I learned so much just from listening to their stories. What surprised me most was that some classmates who appeared to be extremely positive actually had major hardships in their lives. Also some shy classmates I have never really talked to revealed touching stories that made me see them in a completely new way.
Coming to business school, students often forget that behind the facades of success, we’re all human. Initially, most students only show off their best sides; vulnerability, however, is sometimes even more powerful and genuine than a perfect façade. We are all human—we make mistakes; we yearn for belonging; and we want to feel loved.
For me, the biggest lesson of this week was never to judge others by my first impressions of them. I’ve met so many people in the past two months that it’s easy to make quick conclusions about a person. Talk IN reminded me to give each person a chance to share their story beyond their standard “MBA story.” Just listen. You’ll be surprised at how each person, especially those you least expect, has something remarkable to say.
