Duke Daytime MBA Student Blog

The MBA is a lot of things at once: an academic experience, a career accelerator, a social community, and, depending on where you are in life, a personal challenge that runs parallel to everything else happening at home.

I was ready to start my MBA when I received life-shattering news.

Spend less time optimizing the experience from the outside and more time preparing to participate in it. That’s when it starts to feel like Team Fuqua.

I came into Fuqua wanting to pursue a career switch without a well-defined plan, yet confident that this community would help me find my way.

Before arriving at business school, many of us thought we knew what to expect: rigorous academics, ambitious classmates, and long days juggling competing priorities.

I've learned that you find your place in the Fuqua community not by changing who you are, but by consistently demonstrating the values of decency and contribution.

Through the exhaustion, anxiety, and uncertainty, I found strength, growth, and community.

In the spirit of the iconic essay and our unique ‘things’, we’re each sharing five random things about our first year, from the surprises to lessons that stuck.

From twists in my career journey to unexpected moments of growth in Durham and beyond, my first year was filled with powerful lessons.

Things that used to feel natural suddenly become unfamiliar and uncomfortable. This was all to be expected, but when I arrived in Durham, I faced a challenge I never could’ve anticipated.