An Embarrassment of Riches

[Post by Tyler Alrup, MBA Class of 2010]

Almost exactly one year ago last week I began one very long cross-country roadtrip. Packing all of my belongings into a Penske truck, I set out for Boston with my best friend as a copilot. Driving twenty-five hours, straight through the night, we reached my new home at about 1am the next day--and nothing has been quite the same since.

I rolled into the city excited for a new beginning and looking forward to new opportunities but I had no idea what Boston University had in store for me. Faster than I could have possibly imagined I felt comfortable and had made new, great friends. When I first thought of writing this retrospective I knew that I wanted it serve as some kind of guide for our incoming class.

Several good friends and former "2nd years" helped me learn to take advantage of opportunities at BU and I can only hope that our class can pass along the same message. I am excited to see that some of our students have already begun planning "unofficial" social events to integrate the two classes as quickly as possible. We also have an entire group of new students to the School of Management -- the Mathematical Finance graduate students.

Especially for those students making a geographical jump, starting an MBA program is about much more than a set of classes and projects. An MBA is a chance to stretch your perspective on management and also on your own circumstances. Simply put, if someone told me a year ago that I would have the friends I have, doing the internship I am doing, and enjoying the leadership position I am in----I would have told you, (in more colorful, less-blog-appropriate language) that you were nuts.

Some of you are aware that I am an absolute sports nut (and the rest will know soon enough) and while reading an article about the Red Sox pitching surplus the other day I saw the phrase "embarrassment of riches." I absolutely love this phrase. Furthermore, I encourage every student in the graduate school to put together a group of classes, friends, groups, and careers that can only be described as exactly that--an embarrassment of riches.