At HBS, I’m a “Section Chair” for the first time. HBS students are divided into “Sections” when they first arrive, and each Section Chair is the first faculty member with whom they meet. We gathered with them six times over three days during an orientation program called “START” and hold periodic check-ins with them as a group and during individual office hours.

I sent my Section this note.

Dear Section J:

As you ready for a well-deserved spring break, I wanted to reach out with some personal thoughts. As always YMMV and so feel free to ignore.

I’ve observed that the most difficult months of the HBS first-year experience are the first month and the last month: the former because everything feels new and different and the latter because nothing feels new and different.

September, I suspect was a huge dopamine rush for you. You were learning so many new things for the first time while doing so many new things for the first time. And a near-constant cascade of new classmates probably created moments that were often novel and exciting.

By now, the “newness” has probably worn off. It is likely that you may even be able to predict a Sectionmate’s comment while they start to speak. So, there’s not much dopamine to spur you: just a pile of work.

I write this as I’d encourage you to capture some of the magic of September. Do you recall moving in and saying hello to new classmates? Do you remember how excited and grateful you felt as we experienced START?

Perhaps, we cannot truly go back in time: you’ve changed since September and have become a different version of yourself. But I encourage you to try.

I write this because I today walked by some applicants at Spangler. They looked incredibly nervous! And when applicants visited our classroom, dressed in suits and steeling themselves for their interviews, I remembered how both excited and pensive they appeared. I hope they all got good news in the end, and I can only imagine how excited and thrilled they were if and when they did.

If you can, recall and recycle those moments when you were in their shoes.

As I’ve said, HBS is a time machine: “The days feel long, but the years feel short.” A key to HBS is to accept every season of the HBS experience and try to enjoy it for what it brings. Each of the four semesters at HBS is unlike the others. I promise you that next semester will feel very different from today, just like your first semester felt different than this one.

So, rest up and enjoy your break. And try if you can to recapture the magic of September.

I look forward to seeing you when you return.

Fondly,

Jo