Fellows Group XXXV

Being a member of the Mays Business Fellows XXXV class was a great honor of my college experience. Throughout the semester we got to go on a retreat where I slept about three total hours, we got to work with horses on a ranch in order to enhance our learning on different personalities, and we worked two Harvard Business Review cases in teams of six to this critically and creatively about business situations and the impact those decisions have on people. Walking in to Fellows the first night I had a huge case of imposter syndrome. I didn't feel like I belonged in a group of people who were at such a high caliber. However, I remember one specific night where we had class on a Wednesday day night where we were all sharing a meal with a few guest speakers. I was a t a table of only my peers and as I looked around the room I was overwhelmed with how grateful I was to be around people who made me better, but also had the realization of how broken each on of us were. How in need of a savior we all were and how much I longed to stay friends with each of them. That night was also the night that me and my silly friends took the picture shown above.

This night I learned that my education in Mays was mostly not book knowledge. I knew what ROI was and I could value foreign exchange options but I really didn't care when I looked at my classmates. My education in Mays was about forming relationships, learning how to form my own opinions, and learning how to ask the right questions. I knew that these skills were what I was naturally good at through assessments like StrengthsFinder and MBTI and I was excited to know more about myself through those assessments to impact the people around me in a more positive way. We do a lot with self-awareness in Mays and I think sometimes we miss this part of it. That self awareness leads to more effective team work and communication because we realize that there are unique differences in the way we all perceive and react to the world. I saw my education culminate while in Fellows as I pulled on the technical skills I learned to solve cases, and as I pulled on my relationship building skills to create meaningful friendships for the future.

I come back to the diagram that General Van Alstyne drew of the importance of humanity in business. I know that valuing people and being skilled in relationship building will allow me to influence and impact for the better. As I enter the working world in Fall I have come back to the lessons I have learned in Fellows most often. It has allowed me to be more confident in actin gout of my values and knowing that what makes me unique is what I want and need to bring to the world to make it a better place. I also have a huge desire to keep in contact with the people who became a part of my Mays family during this semester. I feel the temptation to let those relationships slip away because of the amount of effort it takes but I want to keep up with those who encouraged me to be uniquely me.

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