For about a week, we were stumped on exactly what photos to include. When I think of my time at Duke, there are dozens of images that pop to mind, including quite a few moments where I honestly had to blink to make sure that what I just experienced had really happened. Our first draft included more than 50 photos and I was personally convinced that was as short as we could make it. Here’s why:

Most days are pretty different at Fuqua. Your class times may be the same, but classes are not. In each class, you may be on a team, but after the core curriculum, your teams differ widely. Every day, you go to the same building, but your schedule is almost never the same. This is part of the reason why we like it, but proved difficult as the subject of a “Day in the Life” slideshow.

Most people are pretty different at Fuqua. I have largely been involved with the MBA Association (MBAA) and Admissions. One of my closest friends spent his time with the Asset Management Club (AMC) and Wine Club. Jackie is a COLE Leadership Fellow, but also spends a lot of time with the Healthcare Club and Health Sector Management (HSM) program. Our days are very busy, but also very different. We felt a lot of pressure to represent our classmates well, but also wanted to acknowledge that there are a million paths to take at Fuqua, and we have chosen and experienced just two of those.

After quite a bit of debate, Jackie and I finally submitted the slideshow and commentary on Fuqua to the editor at Businessweek, who I am sure was exhausted by how long it took us. I am happy with how it looks, but do want to emphasize that this is the experience of only two students. So, for a small glimpse into student life, check out our BloombergBusinessweek slideshow.

Several weeks ago my wife, who is a first-year student at Fuqua, sent me a text message: “I think Rick Wagoner’s in the Fox Center?” Rick was the CEO of General Motors from 2000 to 2009. “Probably,” I responded. “He’s teaching one of my classes.” We later chuckled at my casual response.

Students in their second year at Fuqua have moved largely from skill or competency-focused core courses to more electives and experiential courses that include opportunities to apply what you have learned. One such class is Strategy 491: Managing the Challenged Business, which is based on a construct where prominent business leaders serve as guest speakers and present some of their most challenging real‑world decisions for us to grapple with.

On the first day of class, we were greeted by John Englar, who leads the class as a Fuqua Executive-In-Residence. He’s also a former senior executive at Burlington Industries and Delphi Corporation. Also seated at the front of the classroom was Rick Wagoner, who co-teaches the class. As we reviewed the syllabus, I noticed that our third session would be taught solely by Rick on the General Motors restructuring efforts of the 2000s, which was certainly well-timed given the ongoing controversy surrounding government support for GM during the financial crisis and recent IPO of the company.

Out of respect to Rick and John, the rest of the class, and those of you who may later take the course, I will not include specifics from the discussion. But I do feel compelled to describe the experience.

An Open Discussion with Rick Wagoner, former CEO of GM

Most of you have probably sat in a lecture with a distinguished person. Your mind might drift a bit as the speaker talks about decision-making in a role far different than what you have experienced in your cubicle – but that wasn’t the case with Rick’s presentation. It’s not often that a Fortune 50 CEO (well, to be exact, Fortune 1 for many periods in history) starts by asking for your opinion on what he should have done. Rick entered and did exactly that.

Just minutes into the two-hour discussion, a classmate was standing at the back of class describing his perspective on the key challenges that GM faced while Rick served as CEO. Rick proceeded to moderate a lively and honest discussion on the critical decisions of his tenure, some of which proved controversial during the financial crisis. His candor and willingness to reflect on several decades of global experience – often during very tough times – for the benefit of students was remarkable.

Rick closed with recommendations for when we find ourselves in similar situations. My classmates and I scratched wildly on our notepads to capture what he said. Most of us would have happily continued that session for about a week. Lucky for us, he later joined a number of sessions in the course to provide guidance and anecdotes on many topics, including critical negotiations with creditors, suppliers and labor to help put a business on better financial footing.

Now fast approaching graduation, I guess that my nonchalance in responding to my wife is the fortunate result of quite of a bit of exposure to senior executives while in business school. To be sure, we are all still a bit nervous when raising our hands to speak to these executives, but with every experience, the prospect of sitting in their seat someday starts to seem a bit more feasible. John and Rick often joked that students from Fuqua wouldn’t ever find themselves managing a challenged business, yet assuming some of us do, we now have a toolkit and great advice on how to handle it.

When I first interviewed at Fuqua as an applicant, I was a bit surprised when a student led me to the interview room. But since then, this practice has come to make great sense. Fuqua prides itself on a very active student body and the practice of students interviewing students helps emphasize that reality. Not only can current students answer questions from an “on-the-ground” perspective, but we can also help evaluate an applicant’s potential to succeed in a very unique culture that we hope to protect year after year.

If you come in for an interview, you will notice that your interviewer has conducted quite a bit of brainstorming on the best approach to your discussion, based on your resume. Often, you may see underlines and circles on that resume to highlight interesting points that the interviewer wants to discuss further. Your resume is the only portion of your application that a Fellow will ever see. Interviews at Fuqua tend to be far more of a discussion about your interests and passions than any kind of “grilling” or intense one-on-one evaluation. We just want to get to know you.

Ultimately, the interviewer provides feedback on the applicant’s potential fit at Fuqua. Interaction and discussion with a student during the interview is an important part of the decision-making process for both applicants and the admissions committee. However, Fellows (and any other student interviewers) do not participate in the final evaluation and decision process.

That being said, it is worth emphasizing that the interview is just one portion of any application. Therefore, you should take every part of the application seriously.

Changing Course

I was beginning to study for the LSAT as a senior at UVA when my then girlfriend (now wife) recommended positions with several consulting firms as a way to explore both the public and private sectors. I had just finished an internship with the State Department, where I was increasingly concerned that heading into the public sector, although always an interest for me, should not be my immediate next step. I had no idea what exactly “consulting” meant, but I ended up with a few interviews. When an offer came through, my undergrad adviser strongly encouraged that I accept it, which I did.

It’s funny to recollect exactly how that first year in consulting proceeded. I learned far more about Excel than I ever wanted. I’m fairly embarrassed to admit how much I knew about airline and hotel loyalty programs. But I also eventually realized that I really enjoyed doing what I had by then learned consultants did – help clients solve problems with a fresh, external perspective.

An MBA?

Amidst this realization, I started to explore the resumes of my colleagues. Almost everyone had gone back to school for an MBA. I was lucky to have a mentor at the firm who encouraged my next step: a formal business education to complement my “on‑the‑job” business training.

While exploring and ultimately deciding on an MBA, I had three priorities:

1. Global focus. Several consulting projects had taken me outside the United States, and I was passionate (and still am) about the way the world is changing. I hoped for a business education where I would have the chance to work with people from around the world. Fuqua’s high percentage of international students and global expansion initiative were very attractive to me.
2. Great environment for partners. My wife and I debated going to school together, but she had a start-up opportunity and decided to continue to pursue it. We wanted an environment where she would be actively welcomed and considered a part of the community. The Fuqua Partners program was honestly a defining aspect of our decision making process. 
3. The elusive “fit.” I visited a lot of programs because I felt that “fit” was difficult to decipher without speaking with current and former students. For me, fit was critical. I wanted a place where I could develop relationships that would be successful both in a personal and a professional sense. At Fuqua, I found a place where students take their work very seriously, but do not take themselves too seriously. And that was very appealing to me.

So here I am, just a few months from graduation. My wife is actually now a first-year Daytime MBA student, so we are happy to be staying in Durham for another year. I am excited to join this blog and share a few posts during this period before the “real world” calls once more.