In retrospect, the most important thing I learned in Business School had nothing to do with mental models, financial statements, or innovative business strategy. Rather, it was discovering where home is.
Home is where Robyn is, where my family is, and amongst friends old and new. It's in Detroit and Rochester. It's at my grandmother's house in India. It's reading and learning. It's in serving others and taking risks. It's telling the truth and acting with honor and virtue. It's doing God's work. It's in adventures in and out of nature. It's in a notebook, a whiteboard, or a dance floor.
Home is in my vocation, not a job. It's in hard work, not in rent-seeking. It's not in headlines or awards - better results for customers and communities is reward enough. It's in friendship and fellowship, not "networking."
Now that I'm out of graduate school, the stakes in my life and at work are higher. I'm getting married in less than a year, and I'm taking a job that will be purposeful, but also very difficult. I have a frustrating debt of student loans, so I have to spend wisely every dollar I earn. Now, my actions actually have measurable consequences.
Life, in a way, has called me up to the major leagues. Starting on graduation day I finally felt that I was ready for it.
Today, a month after graduating from Ross, I feel one more emotion that's been eluding me for years: it's good to be home. Because of my transformative time in business school, and many hours of reflection, I finally know exactly where that is.
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