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From a classmate: "We're yet to do the things that will define us."

Connection

Over the last few days I've been fortunate to have some long and substantial discussions with classmates, both on campus and at the Christian Fellowship retreat in New Hampshire. Last night I was talking with a friend in a dormitory nook that overlooks the courtyard and has a view of the main bell tower that symbolizes the business school. This is what I imagine the university experience should be, marked by conversations that endure.

Red line

These are some of the busiest days of my life that I can remember. A lot of us are experiencing utter exhaustion. Nevertheless things remain, interestingly, exhilarating.

Markers

A few days ago HBS unveiled its Centennial Bell, a scaled-down replica of the new one which now resides in the cupola of Baker Library, itself replacing a bell which was sent back to its original home in a Russian monastery. The bell sits on a granite pedestal outside my dorm room window in a newly-constructed circular brick plaza that I have watched take shape over the last few weeks. This will presumably stand as a reminder of the occasion for many years to come, long after those of us who were present are no longer on the scene.

When I was nine years old I sat on a low stone wall with a number of other students as we watched our principal plant a maple sapling in honor of our elementary school's 25th anniversary. I remember the day well, and I remember that our principal said that in 25 years we would come by with our children and show them the then-towering tree standing in its small grass enclosure. It's been 17 years, and that tree is quite big now.