Grades are just numbers. Right?

It’s too soon to tell how this whole grading thing will pan out. Are grades important? Do our professors curve? I really don’t know. We are a remarkably diverse class in every sense of the word, particularly for a class of only 56. Of course we have people from different countries, ages, and genders, but our career backgrounds span everything from analysts at Goldman Sachs to wedding coordinators, IT professionals to entrepreneurs. There is a handful of students who could probably teach some of the classes. So are we all held to the same standard? Hard to say.

One of the most astounding things I’ve experienced since coming to Terry is the willingness of my classmates to help each other. Again, influenced by inaccurate stereotypes, I was pretty much expecting everyone to be hyper-competitive and cutthroat. That is not the case at all. Just last week one of our most financial accounting-inclined classmates hosted a pre-exam accounting review for those of us who just weren’t getting it.

I failed to take advantage of my classmates’ ability when preparing for our finance exam last Thursday. Thinking that I could manage better on my own, I somehow failed to work back through our last problem set from the final lecture prior to the exam. Naturally, just as the professor had hinted, a replica of that very problem appeared before me on page 6 of the exam.

I’m slowly learning that the entire MBA experience, not just our explicit team assignments, is about learning to function as a team. Had I not thought myself above collaboration, I probably wouldn’t have choked on the last problem. The workload is intense, but it’s certainly doable, particularly if you discuss and collaborate with your classmates. Always within the bounds of academic honesty of course. With that, I’m off to join my study group. After all, there are two types of smart people in this world – those who know the answers, and those who know where to go to get the answers. At least for now, I believe I am the latter.