Ep 50 | Inside HBS: Community, Culture, and the Social Scene

Harvard Business School is known for its top tier faculty and its pioneering use of the case method. But what about outside of the classroom? What are the clubs, events, and section experiences that make HBS special? Today we welcome HBS Student Association President, Hayden Tanabe, back to the mbaMission podcast to talk about the the HBS community and culture, from the school's signature social events and travel opportunities to its lesser known traditions.

Follow @haydentanabe on TikTok for more on his MBA journey!

00:00 Welcome to the mbaMission podcast
01:07 The role of student government at HBS
11:17 Social life and events at HBS
15:12 Interest groups and clubs 
17:27 The HBS section community
19:26 Connecting with classmates before school begins
25:31 Travel opportunities at HBS
37:06 Traditions at HBS
45:23 Navigating the social scene as an introvert 
48:32 Who would NOT fit in at HBS?

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Transcript

a very active social life We do Huge travel life I don't even know where to begin I did not expect to travel as much in the NBA program as I have Your section is actually very central to your experience HBS has a really interesting culture with roasts Have you all heard of this before no No This happens all the time in sections They'll just schedule time where they will roast their section mates They roast their professors I had a client from a number of years ago and he was really intimidated by this notion of a drinking culture that he got at HBS I had still the best fun social time not drinking at the start of school that I do

now Harvard Business School is synonymous with the case method It's not for the faint of heart and gives HBS the reputation of being quite challenging academically But what about outside of the classroom what is the HBS community life like what social activities are there and what HBS traditions are often not talked about we're joined today by Hayden the current HBS class president Welcome Hayden So you are president of the student senate that means you're really taking care of your class in all sorts of different ways You want to just talk about some what some of your responsibilities are and how that manifests yeah So being student association president essay at HBS classic student government organization advocate for change within your community take student concerns advocate for new things in the dining hall That's always like the big one This one's a little bit interesting compared to my undergrad because we actually run a campus store as well And we are a fully distinct legal entity separate from HBS So we're legitimately the Harvard Business School Student Association Incorporated Okay So we're 501c3 and you can look up our tax forms online director board of directors which is our senators and my executive level members And it's a full operation It's a full business We have a legal retainer We have an accountant on payroll We have overhead We have staff that we pay to run our store We take in revenue I have a CFO We one of also I was my section president She's also was her section president so graciously we asked her to join our team She's fantastic She does the numbers a lot better than I do and we forecasted our revenues for the year based on like levers to pull of well if we think we're going to do this conservatively this really well how are we going to do this so it's been a really big business exercise honestly and then we take all that money and we allocate it to the student body between our initiatives whether that's getting free coffee and free printing to students which is a big thing for me and my co-president Taylor big events like we host our biggest gallas other events but that's what we do Yeah So are we running at a profit then on an annual basis we do not run a profit So as a nonprofit we have to not profit So that's great We've been actually doing really well financially this year So there's an open question of like with our net income because we can't end without money And so subsidizing events more lowering ticket costs just to make them more inclusive which I think is definitely something that we wanted to do at the beginning of the year We've been really successful to this point in doing that And so we'll even have more to do but we did really well from a product sale perspective Selling product now just before Oh my goodness So every year so our office is the one that sells the famous HBS Patagonas Okay Yeah So the Patagonia brand like a Patagonia fleece with a Harvard Business School on every I posted a Tik Tok about it actually and it got so many views and everyone's like I want one I was like I don't know what to tell you But so you can get them customized with your class year and then your section So mine has a Harvard Business School Crest and it says uh class of 2025 section I that's my section and we do that for all students who want one And that is obviously our bestselling product usually because it's such an iconic piece of merch every however this year we introduced something for our famous Harvard DL football game which is a really big thing that people look forward to on campus that we host an event for every year as the student association and it was a crew neck sweater with a bear on the front that kind of represents like a really big brand that also sells like things with their bear on it I'm not going to say what it is I don't know how I could do that but it had a little Harvard sweater on it and so that thing sold like hotcakes and so we've really smashed our financial goals because of that Oh congratulations And that's on being an MBA right do you want to learn more about your target business schools check out OnTrack by MBA Mission where we have in-depth modules on all the top business schools covering everything from what makes them unique to how to tackle the application essays and short answers and so much more You can also practice for interview and video questions all done on your schedule on demand We appreciate your dedication to our podcast and we want to offer you 30% off any ONTRA subscription Use the code MBA pod to get 30% off any ONTRA subscription Check it out at ontrack.mmbbammission.com I want to we got to take a big step back because I know from talking to you that that it was important to you to be involved in student government You were aspirational about being the the president of your class So you know you said to me off camera before that you you knew this coming in and that like you were making well you have a co-president that you met early and determined you run together So why don't you take us to take us to the earliest the genesis of the decision to run for president yeah I was president of my high school president of my undergrad And so I think that there's just something on in a very similar way that people love joining interest clubs and things that they like I know I like student government right so if I had the opportunity to do that again I was going to do that And so I came into HBS I knew that I wanted to get involved with my section which your first year I spent with my same 90 odd people and I ran to be my sections president So I did that And I think I learned so much about how to build an inclusive community and concerns that were really rampant in our community And I met with all the other nine section presidents because there's 10 of us A through J and really picked up on the things that were important to our community And I think also planning some of our biggest trips and meeting a bunch of people which I also think in a class of 900 you can meet a really good majority of your classmates all those things really nurtured my already existent desire to run Um even before stepping foot on campus I've always been super honest about that I love student government and it just so happens that I also love HBS too So how's the campaign work are you walking around saying hi to people and introducing yourself is it is it like a high school election it's so It's kind of high school It's also kind of not It's like kind of similar There is a healthy level of campaigning that goes into that And then there's how many how many competitor I was going to say how competitive was the race yeah So you run as a slate of two So you're co-presidents HBS loves a co-president All the clubs are always president Yeah So me and my co-president her name is Taylor She's fantastic So we decided to She was also president of her section She was president of section A I was president of section I And so we teamed up to be a ticket together to run And then we ran against two other people who were on one slate together Yeah And yeah it was a two-w weekek campaign give or take And there's it's like it's fun but it also lacks a little fanfare There's some rules that I don't think were super undergrad like in terms of the types of events that you could host campaign rallies types of things There's still limits and rules and the types of things you could do in terms of the HBS context I would have loved if we had done those things to be clear I just think it would have been fun But yeah we ended up doing that and I think we were really clear on what things having both been section presidents that tangible things that we wanted to do as our priorities and then develop our budget to reflect that Um and and did both do both classes vote or is it just the the rising class that votes it's just the rising class that votes So for the student association you're essentially a student body president You represent both class years Uh but it's just the students in our class who are actually staying on campus next year who vote And then my year it's one day of voting It was February 22nd if I off top of my head Actually it's a year ago It's almost a year ago and I think it's a little bit later this year cuz I think elections for them are next week right but we had 77% of the student body which of a 900 person class or 940ish That's pretty impressive It's like Sweden like numbers or Norway numbers you know it's great So people rock the boat And I mean is there is there any particular door that this opened that that that aside from obviously being a great talking point on your resume you know get a phone call from any past presidents or presidents club or stuff like that of the uh at HBS yeah I mean there is like a long lineage of student association presidents at HBS which is really cool I haven't really anyone that we'd have to I don't know if I've really seen like the full roster honestly I think I've been pretty focused on just doing what we need to do for our class I think because every year new students are there right every year looks a little different Ticket prices for events look different from every year based on how they allocated their budget That's interesting Products the like last year the campus store wasn't even open as many months as we had it open this year That affects revenues right so it just depends in the way that you do those types of things In terms of opportunities I mean obviously collaborating with the administration is really cool Getting breakfast with Dean Datar pretty often It's like kind of sick right like it's it's neat And I think I've more so than just been cuz I take my role really seriously as I think anyone should do when they step into this role So I've been really focused on that versus like exploring like the benefits that come with it No no that makes sense So some what has been some of your focus like how did you think about how did you imagine your role going in yeah So we had a few set priorities The first was lowering ticket costs for our staple events

more people

It was a really big rally cry for our free coffee free printing So we knew that we were going to do something related to that Free coffee that means free canisters like like opening walk up to your mug just mean at the store Yes Every Monday the first day of every week we offer free stu free coffee to students Free to them cost us So we have that money right like it actually gets costly believe it or not to do coffee every single day So that's what we introduced And we also just wanted to build HBS traditions So HBS does these things called my takes which are just students able to share things that don't appear in the academic classroom their life stories big pivotal moments from their life really big personal things really less professional They happen at the section level but they also happen at the HBSwide level where we have them in our main auditorium and people will come and it's an unspoken rule people come whether they know the person speaking or not just to learn life stories from our classmates It's really something and so we really wanted to build HBS traditions too Okay And so those were three things that were really important to us I think from my perspective um and a lot of it is just budget allocation and then also doing really well revenue from products to be able to do that And so we've been able to do all those things We lowered ticket prices by 50% for what they were Let me jump in there So ticket prices So what are we what are we selling tickets to what are the big events that people should know about they could get I'm sure lots of our listeners and viewers would be excited to know about what the social life is really like right and how much are the tickets i mean yeah super curious Harold and I come to these events Those are really great questions So the first thing is so big staple events that the student association hosts and they are some of the biggest events So many other clubs host events too and sections which I can totally get into those things too The student association we usually have a holiday gala It's called Hollowazzle and that one's open to all first years and second years So it had this year I think we sold the most tickets we've ever sold I think partially is because the tickets were a lot cheaper That's demand and supply right like how it works We had about$,950 1,950 people come of I mean your class is 2,000 people bring Yeah But we had a really good it was the most tickets we ever sold which was really cool That's a huge event actually Massive 20,000 person events is a lot to make Right Where was it it was at the Weston Copley and beautiful hotel Yeah Beautiful hotel and also one of the only places that could hold 2,000 Yes Because it's actually a little different from our spring gall Um and one thing HBS loves a tux So I needed to buy a tux for the very beginning I'm like I needed to invest in that because they're all black tie events And so in the spring we have our RC and EC gala RC meaning your first year EC meaning your second year Unlike holiday gala it's separate nights So Friday night you have just the first year Saturday night you have just the second years and those probably about like a thousand people each and those Yeah So that one is coming up super quickly So we've been planning that and ticket prices are also lower which we're really grateful for So we were Can you share how much ticket prices are yeah Last year we lowered or this year we lowered ticket prices for our holiday by $25 a ticket So our prices were 45 and 75 Oh okay This year so last year 25 more and this year we're projecting our ticket prices to be 50% of what they were last year and last year there were about 120 and 100 Wow So we really take pride in lowering our ticket prices and that's just because of how we allocated money Yeah No no that makes sense actually Are there any other big big social events run by the Yeah So our Harvard Yale event So we usually have either a tailgate or a watch party or something like that That's one of our big things I mean cuz the Harvard football stadium is right across the street from the business school It is Yeah Okay Yeah It is right there And it's one thing we don't do like a lot of sport things I mean we have inter murals and all that but I wouldn't say like we go to football games constantly constantly but it's it's it's a really big event for the community Like it's really fun That event was was memorialized in a documentary Oh was it really yeah Yeah There's there was a famous game that that I think it's called Harvard beats Yale 2121 as long as Harvard won Exactly It was about a massive comeback Given that I never was a student either Harvard or Yale I went with a friend to the Harvard Yale game See we have and that that's like it's a huge thing People bring their friends their families their parents to I had never seen anything like it I never said but I couldn't sit with the students So I sat behind um the um end zone Okay And they kicked an extra point and the extra point goes up and I said to my friend who was sitting next to I'm catching this and I caught it And I caught it You're like Exactly Wait Harvard kicked it Harvard kicked it Exactly Harvard kicked it and I caught it and I like swarmed by security guards Funny So that that's the end of my story but it was the only collegiate football pass I ever caught So you're one for one Exactly Exactly Right Okay So we at the Harvard Hill football game Um I mean what about what about things that aren't organized by the student government i mean obviously a very active social life We do huge travel life I don't even know where to begin So a lot of the clubs have a lot of parties the first semester just to help students get acclimated to campus life especially first years So when I think about a lot of the parties like I'm a part of Pride and they host an 80s party every fall which a lot of first years go to naturally And then we also have our Latam Club folks from Latin America They host the Great Gatsby party which is also black tie Let me just And I I hate to interrupt you but at at Sloan the Latin American students would always throw this incredible blowout It got like fun Yeah Yeah Really one of the highlights of the year It's a really Maybe they collaborate because it's it's always really fun And then so many other clubs put on other parties like ACU our African-American student union ABBA our Asian-American Business Association They all all the affinity groups have parties And one of the really fun ones I will say is coming up this week It's called I'm going to botch the name It's called ECA It's by our South Asian Business Association and it's a Bollywood dance competition Oh that's awesome And all 10 sections A through J compete against each other Fantastic So I've actually So later tonight I have dance practice I had dance practice every night last week So 8 to 9 you'll catch me in Shad our Gym North studio with my section crew because we are going to win I have a solo Do you have a solo i have a solo I may or may not have taken my shirt off on stage last year and we win But I'm going to do that as many times as I need to in order to win Exactly Exactly That is fantastic Unexpected I suspect Oh it was a sleeper event I had no idea I'm so glad that I did it last year and I really wanted to but like things like that are just so fun that I don't think that even coming into HBS I realized that there would be events that are that fun that aren't like serious Like it's not that serious People still love to have fun and the Bollywood dance competition is a great example of that So our clubs host a lot of incredible events Hayden we've talked about just how this your section is actually very central to your experience So tell me a little bit about the different section events you may have Yeah because I think at HBS the way I like to think about it we have our events hosted by our student association which I'm really biased I think are incredible And we have all the events hosted by clubs and then I think the section events fit a really important niche or part of the community just because our events for the student association are open to everyone Club events for the most part Yes they have events for the club itself but they're events for the most part They're big gallas They're big dance competitions They're big events They're also open hypothetically to everyone Section events are really important because they're supposed to build community in your 90 person section And so they're inherently smaller by nature but maybe even a little bit more meaningful Yeah I can believe that because I always like to think actually my role as student body president versus my role as a section president are very different like student association you can your measure of successes numbers of getting people to go to gala me as section president I see my 90 people getting closer together right right yeah and there's inherently they're just more human I think like for example when I think about my section like baby showers for people who had babies time at HBS right um You have people coming together to share a life moment Sure You have my takes which I talked about before people just sharing their life story at the section level So there was like once a week where we after class we'd have like a 20 minute hold of someone giving their life story after something So we do that You have every single one of the almost every single one of the club parties or student association parties your section will do a section specific pregame or party before the main party Always that So before Galite you'll see all 10 20 sections at different parts of Boston private buyout of XAR before you go there So it's like is very much like your home room like you get really accustomed to those people So life milestones fun parties etc Like the section fills a really important niche in that way Right Right Right Obviously people at HBS become very close and I've heard this from from other people as well but I understand that those relationships actually start before you even get to camp sometimes even quite a bit before you get to campus I would say for me that was very true Yeah Yeah So when did those relationships start failing so I got into HBS December 2022 Okay It was I think it was December 6th So don't quote me on that So but that's very beginning of December And at the very beginning for all the schools you're added to like their Slack environment like the which I just think is so funny they all do that I feel like in undergrad it used to be Facebook now Slack Right And so you're added there and people already informally group themselves whether it's by interest in industry or geography So I was immediately part of the Los Angeles channel on our Slack for HBS and I met someone my first friend ever Sarah for coffee at HBS that week Really you both had gotten in and then you DM like found her on the Los Angeles channel Yeah DM'd her We live close to each other We got coffee that week in Manhattan Beach Still friends Yeah she's on my boat for yacht week And so and so we should do a separate yacht week episode actually from week It honestly should be a yacht week and NBA mission collab That's what I think it should be I can put you in contact Yeah So it starts right away and I think I definitely leaned into it very heavily because I think at the time I was still undecided on what school I wanted to go to So I wanted to meet people from both that I would potentially spend that time with and then yeah so I invested a lot of time in that And so the Los Angeles folks we would hang out like once a week really We would get dinner We would go bowling We went to Topgolf We went to a bar One time it was like a 36-hour period We hung out three separate times I made a TikTok about it It was like get ready with me to hang out with my maybe So how many things did you know before you arrived on camp well not including yacht week I guess cuz that starts before school So if I take Los Angeles the Slack channel it probably had 40 50 of us Wow Who had who were either in LA or from LA or had some reason to be there at some point in time And so I met pretty much all of them from LA before school I mean we would hang out all the time And I think that it was interesting because it wasn't New York I mean a lot of people come from New York But in a lot of ways the 40 person community was so much more manageable You could have a big group You have 400 people coming out of New York Yeah And like so that makes sense as like a casual happy hour stop by for LA You can actually build community cuz there weren't that many of us right and then so I also leaned into the geography thing I went to San Francisco for Pride over the summer before starting HBS I popped into their Slack channel I hosted a picnic met 20 people that way Well like that's awesome And so it was just it was so people are so willing and ready to meet people And I think that there's something about sporting your program that the anticipation is just so high My therapist tells me all the time and we talk about this that sometimes the anticipation is even more exciting than experiencing itself cuz you have something to look forward to Yeah Absolutely There's people who love to plan their trip their travel and actually then then the trip isn't as meaningful I the anticipation for starting was really high And so I loved meeting people knowing that my clock wasn't even ticking right And I also I I also have to talk about this like when I was in consulting I was up in Seattle every other week for two and a half almost 3 years and I became so close with all the people from Seattle cuz I was there every other week right you were there without your family without your your usual group of friends so much time with them like I and so all those things and then admitted student weekend was a really big catalyst for meeting people too Right Like I knew a ton of people before I started but I also leaned in heavily Yeah Right Right Of course There not everyone is as extrovert and community focused as you I'm extroverted Is there is there no is there nowhere to run nowhere to hide for the introvert like you know is that is that person oh you know yeah there are definitely people who didn't engage with anything HBS until starting and those people are also fine right like we you start at HBS on your first day of your required start orientation week at 7 a.m You check your phone learn what section you're in right away A through J And those people you're on path the first hour right to like spend your whole first year with these 90 people So those people who also choose not to engage over the summer are also fine Like HPS because of the section experience be it educational and social you have your friends already baked in So people who also don't engage with the summer shouldn't be worried about that I chose to I don't think you have to be to be to like succeed if that even means that socially at HBS No cuz it's the system there obviously is because they use sections you know no matter who you are you have to be with this 90 group of pe this group of 90 people and then you all almost by default have to get very close to each other I mean if you're spending hours and hours together you definitely do I mean you have hard conversations you have like if you have a tough case in class about a controversial topic and some sections choose to stay after and continue talking about it or dedicate separate time for that you have your norms and values that you said as a section whether you're deviating away from those like this is a really small example in our section WhatsApp chat at the very beginning of the year people it was like someone's birthday and like all 94 people were like happy birthday happy birthday like this needs to stop norm anymore Right Little things like that of like in the classic organizational model of like forming norming storming like that's the section experience Right Right Right Right Right Right That that's that's I mean a huge part of the HS HBS experience is travel Yeah Um I tell us about the milestones in the calendar the ones you participate in ones maybe maybe you didn't participate in like I guess maybe the official ones versus the ones that are just cobbled together by friends Yeah I it's a great question And I think that I did not expect to travel as much in the NBA program as I have Okay I think for me I always said that I wanted to do the MBA program not to say people do it like responsibly financially And that meant for me probably not as much travel as average person right but I've even exceeded mine I think it's so easy to get caught up in and I think so how it's looked for me some unofficial trips So before school I went to and I planned yacht week for my class which is in Croatia That's what yacht week is So essentially it is a week on a boat I would never say it's a yacht So they need to fix that It's it's a boat uh with it's a week you have like 10 to 12 people on your boat that are presumably your classmates because you organize into boats there For my boat how many classmates went so we had about 250 Oh 250 out of 900 Yeah that's incredible We had a lot of people buy into It was really fun And but yeah it's like 10 to 12 people per boat Um partners were included as well So that definitely includes that 250 number but you spend a week on the water bobbing between islands in Croatia There's a ton of parties and it's it's fun And while there are parties I also am super honest about this in that I actually wasn't drinking coming into business school And I think that it's a common misconception that you need to be like wild and party and duh Like I didn't do those things at yacht week and I still have and I even planned it and I still had so much fun cuz I met my classmates So I really try to myth bust that like to have good time at X you need to do why you don't I think you just need to be willing to meet people My boat was half Los Angeles half Seattle because I was spending time in those two places which is really fun And then I like everyone does it differently but we ran like we had captains of all the different boats and they would post on our sub yacht week channel of like looking for x amount of people to fill this boat and they would like like almost like matchmaking like they would like talk see if it's a good fit That's great And they would do that Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah That's great So we got yacht week What's the next the next travel milestone for you well so far so this year I was really excited because I went to October Fest in Munich Okay Our German classmates organized that trip for us How many students there's about 200 of us And I think it's important to note like I don't I mean these trips aren't officially HBS sanctioned They're organized by our HBS classmates who and they work with and partner with travel agencies sometimes like take us cuz it just eases that way That one was really fun I also went to Saudi Arabia in a very similar way Our Saudi classmates partnered with the travel agency to get us there and take us there which is really fun There is one official like required HBS international trip It's called field or field global immersion FGI I think they've rebranded it since but it's like same same general thing Uh so they send all 900 of us whatever the exact number is like all 900 of us to 15 different countries Okay And so there's about 60 So I went to Acra Ghana Okay And I had never been to Africa before And so they have us rank the countries and they'll try their best to like put us somewhere And what aspect what what which components of the of the trip does HBS pick up is it they pick up the flight and the Well yeah So I mean I always say "Oh it's free." And they're like "Well you paid for it somewhere." So they give us the flight credit They It's the hotel everything There are some dinners that I paid for and some incend incidentals but it's included in our tuition payment And so that one I think I was in Ghana for about 10 days And so that's the program It's all at the same time Everyone's It's so funny because every single one of your classmates is in such a different part of the world I remember find my friends I was like the whole globe is lit up because everyone's just everywhere and they do a really good job of separating sections to this is the first time at HBS where you are separate from your section Okay Okay So this is the end towards the end of your first year The end of your first year It's after finals and it's the first time you're in a mix environment not just with people in your section There's like just by the numbers because 10 sections 15 locations 60 people over there's like six to seven people per section in each location So that's like some semblance of comfort Um but otherwise that's the first time you're meeting new people in like a somewhat of a classroom environment because you prepare for it by having some level of class and then you go there and the premise is that you're essentially doing a consulting project for a local partner in that community and you coordinate meetings with them You work on deliverables for them You deliver a presentation at the end and that's the premise of it Of course there's so much social that happens There's dinners every single night We went out all the time Like I was in the pool constantly So I just it was so fun Yeah that's great That is great You know I should interject here that everything you're talking about many of the top business schools have very similar programs There are yacht weeks at many schools There are practically labor school now Oh Nobody's disputing that Yeah And so I just want to people who are listening to this recognize that at most of the business schools not even top business schools you will have a you could have a very similar experience And out of sheer empathy to anyone who's watching and saying you know I'm not going to have the budget for that Not everyone goes to every event And that's right And as someone who went to business school on a on a shoestring budget and didn't participate in these things those are not the things that I lament As I look back on my experience I think about the very much like you the friendships that endure uh you know some of the some of the some of the classroom work that endures right but um you know you miss a ski trip it's like the end And that's a great point too I mean I think that while I've been able to travel there are so many of my classmates and even like I I don't even know if I would call myself the median Like there are people who travel more than me There are people who travel less than me And I think everyone would say not every like generally people find the experience fulfilling and I don't think the travel thing is the deciding factor of whether you're loving your MBA experience or not I think it's one factor of it Um and there are I think different trips that they're all they're all just different So I live in Boston a few years ago I go on an annual uh trip to um to I'm a big skier I go go on an annual trip out west And I noticed on my way back on my way back there were there were a lot of people wearing the HBS you know flannels and all the uh I went to Park City Oh yeah And uh and I came back and I was I could see and I did not want to be like walking up and disturbing past clients but there are people that I had spoken on the phone one or two people I had actually worked with myself That's fantastic I was like I'll just watch from afar Was it last year i think this was either two or three years ago Okay That would have been my year last year The funny thing is so a lot of sections do a ski trip It's so funny how like things become traditions that are in very informal traditions and a lot of sections will go on a ski trip every January February after they get back from winter break And so Park City is a really hot spot for them And for my class who went last year there is a at the St Regis there is the vintage room which is like the aubrey place Okay Yeah We that DJ who headlines that we brought him in this year for our holiday gala because he's so meaningful to our class We blew him out here So terrific and he's going to headline our gala in a few weeks too He's just so meaningful to our class It's just so funny like little things like that One of the funny things about that about that that flight home is it was the red eyee and I knew that when I landed I was I was going to sleep but I knew they were going to class It was a Monday and they had they had there was class was in session and so I I thought there'd be some groggy students in class I've definitely shown up groggy before However I will say that we do take academics seriously too So I think it's important to even go to class even after an event like that Like you for me in order to do X I still need to do Y Like both of those things it just has to happen We talked earlier about how you have no no regrets about your experience but is there is there is there a trip or a big social experience that you just took a pass on that you think to yourself going back maybe I should have gone with my classmates there the only one that stands out to me so you definitely have a bit a lot of big trips whether those are organized by the classmates from those countries Those are some of the biggest ones I think that the ones that I regret not doing there was specifically one over this past winter break that wasn't even an HBS trip It just would have been a trip with my HBS my closest friends at HBS Right Right Which I regret not doing that And I think that a lot of things like HBS stuff like that but not everything is like this big massive trip of like 200 300 people Oh my god I forgot I went to Columbia for spring break and there's like 600 of us there too like that like Columbia that I don't even know what the population of the whole country is That was fun But not everything is the 600's person spring break truck to Columbia Tons of your friends will just have like mini cabin weekends in Vermont or go to Cape Cod for the 17th time which I had never been before school because I'm from Los Angeles but I love it now But so like things like that I think because now you nurture your friendships over time like you should invest in that So I think there was one trip over New Year's with just like my core friend group of like four of us that I missed that which I was tired after Saudi but I do regret not going I know I can appreciate that Listen I just want to parenthetical here as far as budgeting for some of these things My experience and I think it's very similar to other schools in the sense of you do have a few trips that are heavily subsidized So in that case I went to Japan and Korea still remember for $500 Yeah And it was part of a course So when I hear that in fact at a minimum someone is going on their field trip somewhere I can't way to look at it Yeah I mean the reality is if you go to HBS that it's a part of the program Yeah You are hypothetically paying for it up front Right Right Right With respect to field were you able to select the place you were going to go or how how specific could you be in your in your choice you rank them So they'll have this big day Remember it sort of we're in Clar Hall our biggest auditorium on campus Yeah and they have this promo video where they release all 15 of the locations Colia Ghana like these are all the choices So they're different every year There are some that like stay the same just because it makes sense They have relationships with them but they released those to us and then they give us this poll where they're like "Rank your top tier your middle tier your bottom tier." And so I had never been to Africa before So I ranked all the ones in Africa at my top So that was Ghana Rwanda and Kenya So I knew I could have gone to any of those I mean I could have gone to any of them but I thought that hopefully I would get one of my top right yeah Yeah Yeah Know that that certainly makes sense What about some of the traditions that uh that HBS has um I mean I'm sure I'm sure there are many Can you key us into key us into a few that that uh that punctuated your experience yeah this is one of my favorite things to talk about because I think we do not talk about it enough Um and I think that these are also the bit videos that perform best on my TikTok We were just talking about that off camera Like people love the tradition So a few of them I keep talking about section reveal So it's like your first day of formal orientation programming So everyone gathers on the lawn Spangler lawn at 7:00 in the morning to open their phone log on to Canvas and see which letter appears A through J cuz that's your identity for your whole first year And it's really fun Everyone gathers they like informally group into places there at the student association which I actually did for this class this past year You buy your every section shirt So every section has a different color Yeah And there's like breakfast provided like things like that And it's all before the deans welcome So that moment is really fun cuz it's just so new and so fun and it's wild to see 900 people on a field right like it's just like it's a lot And at the end of orientation week one thing that has become really popular that also is hosted by the student association is section Olympics So that's on our big lawn field Ton of like games Think like tugof-war think like sack race things like that Fantastic We added like a IQ component of it And so section Olympics there's like a trophy that gets handed out in every single year So it's that's the first week of school Like there's still IQ component I can only imagine what that is I mean there's no way I'm winning that to be clear So but so that's one thing that we as student association do Um and that for like that have just become long-standing HBS traditions Some other things that come to mind um so HBS has a really interesting culture with roasts Have you all heard of this before no No Not really Yeah So like roast meaning to like tease someone very affectionately Yeah So this happens all the time in sections right so it become like a really big thing So every week I meet with all of the RC like the first year section presidents and I remember one of their first questions after they were elected like when do we start roasts and I'm like well so first off plug it's up to every single section decide their own values and norms and even if they want to do roasts because it's like a informal formal tradition they are like when are we doing them because they think it's something they have to do and so they'll schedule time whether it's weekly bi-weekly monthly twice a semester like my section did There's all over the map But some sections did more some sections did less They'll put like time on the calendar They'll just schedule time where they will roast their section mates just for mannerisms in class I got um roasted for like my hand motions all the time And apparently I start every comment in class with for me So that's something that they picked up on and I just think it's so funny And the other part of roasts is that and this was every single section did this I don't know when this happened I don't know if anyone HDS can even answer this question They roast their professors Okay Were the professor professors there for the event for the events yes So the la for your first year your RC year the last section of every class So my last Tom class my last lead class my last Finn class F FRC class the we reserve 20 minutes at the end We do like our teaching evaluations They say they're biased whatever And then like a student from the section and they and they've worked on this before like they're like I was section president I had like roast teams for each subject and professor and they like spend hours preparing a roast to the professor whether impressions or funny things that happened through the semester If like a professor said this one thing that was really funny like you best believe that's going to come up like it's like and they take it Are there any guard rails on this are there any beforehand there any simple rules for this so because it doesn't obviously go off the rails Yeah because it's an informal tradition It's not something that's like standardized across the board right and so I mean sometimes things can get a little tough honestly And I think that that's why it's so important section leadership of having a section president who probably is a little bit more level-headed that can be like you know what I'm so fine having this and you need to be there's like a line in which you cannot cross And I've been super upfront generally like if I have one single hurt feeling this it's just it's we're just pulling it It's just done right

yeah Every section looks different I'm sure there's been horror stories I'm sure there's really roasts are something that HBS students love I had I made a TikTok about it and people loved it They become a big deal Someone commented like "Can you roast me?" I was like "Baby I'm I'm not the one." Like I I have people who do that They're much funnier than I am I don't think it's any better than the roast but any other any other traditions that people might not be aware of yeah the roast one is an interesting one Roast is crazy I'm shocked that that happens I just feel like I feel like at some point that tips in the wrong direction and they're all cancelled forever The fact that it's been going on for so long It's pretty amazing But it's also one of those things that I I don't know who would cancel it Like sections are really gunho on having them And I think I think it's something that definitely my co-president of the student body Taylor and I from the very beginning there are things that happen informally at HBS that are not required or even suggested by the HBS powers at be But I think that we've been really good at instead of being defensive like let's be on the offense about it We know people are going to do this then how can we put structure around that i actually think a really great example of that is flags in the RC classroom So just for context if you've Googled HBS or HBS classroom you'll see this gorgeous classroom with all these flags from all different parts of the world all different colors hanging up And historically those flags have represented the global diversity that exists within your section Like that is someone's section classroom Like I was section I Aldrich 108 and we had all of our flags representing the global diversity in a variety of different forms right um in our classroom and that has been I don't know how long that's been a tradition for right um now this year because there's just like this year the student association so my organization has now owned that process we'll I'll be curious to see what happens in future years but that that's a tradition in itself of hanging classroom or flags around the classroom that I don't think people see it but I don't know that they know the significance of And I think it's a lot of sections cuz their flags were

hung that they're all doing presentations from those countries or even also countries in which the flag's not hanging from because there's so many ways to showcase global diversity Flags are only one of them but there are people doing presentations on the country that they're from or the country that's meaningful to them There's so many different connections to flags and countries that I would be naive to like try to get into all of them And you try your best to like build a consistent process in that way but that's a really fun one too Like we had last year we had our presentations and then later that night had like a global I global happy hour doesn't do it justice Like food from all the countries from our that were represented in our section We subsidized gave everyone like $20 to bring something there Right So these are the types of things that make HBS what it is right and we have the global diversity We have people in our section who are really funny We're not just all academics Like I have some of the smartest people in the world I would argue in my section but they could also crack a joke like nobody's business Yeah Yeah I had a classmate who had sung on Broadway Really so yeah And it's something we had a hidden talent show was called where basically you know there were people your classmates who actually had these hidden talents that you know the person who's a concert pianist the person who actually really did standup comedy and one woman who had sung on Broadway It's like she worked at Ford It's like who knew who knew that those two things go together Yeah I mean not me Crystal Not me You guys want to stop and do a couple show tunes guys what right now hayden So what has become clear during this conversation is you are an extrovert A very socially inclined person Yeah I am Yeah However if you are not a socially inclined person more of an introvert and you get to HBS what does that experience look like yeah I HBS coined I don't know if they coined it but I'll give them credit because why not uh people are very familiar with the term FOMO like fear of missing out We also talk about JMO the joy of missing out Talk about both those things That's right So there are definitely I go to a lot of things and but at HS there's no shortage of things to go to like you go out every night if you wanted to and I think one of the ways that the section experience is so nice specifically especially during your first year is that there are tons of smaller things that you can do whether they're small group dinners in your section whether they're like small wine nights in like there are so many different smaller things you could do that I think fuel a lot of more insured people And there's also nothing wrong with taking a night in by yourself I didn't do anything last night I watched White Lotus with my neighbor Like the dorms okay you know what I mean like I think that there's no shortage of ways to take yourself out of it Um there are huge parties You also don't have to go to those two I think you're going to have an equally rewarding experience Yeah Yeah No No I I was talking about it with you earlier I had a client from a number of years ago He was actually um Muslim and he was really intimidated by this notion of a drinking culture that he got at HBS and he got there and actually I had lunch with him and that didn't turned out not to be the case but still I think when people hear about all of the these parties and the travel it can also be intimidating and this notion here of so let me ask a different question is there who should not go to HBS well let me actually respond to your first point because I was not drinking coming into HBS okay So I think I mean like you could see I'm a very social very extroverted person Like yacht week I did completely sober Yeah I didn't drink the whole time there I didn't drink for the first few months of school I just I was like in my health and wellness era I was like I'm going to take some time off of drinking I didn't drink like the first two years before business school Now I do disclaimer um responsibly Let me know And I am an example of that Yeah And I think I had still the best fun social time not drinking at the start of school that I do now I think in different ways they can both be fun But I mean I did something like y week completely not drinking I planned y week not drinking And so I think that that is a myth I would say it happens for sure I would never call it pervasive Granted that's my opinion and I would never call it pervasive There has never been a single person coming in HBS who pressured me into drinking No I wasn't drinking Forced me to have a drink That was never the case Everyone was so respectful And I don't think HBS students get enough credit for how respectful they are Right Right Right Right Right Definitely Definitely So um you know maybe it's one last question Obviously you got into a lot of business schools You saw a lot of business schools You really gotten to know your classmates very very well Do you think to yourself or if you meet somebody maybe this place isn't right for you maybe HBS is not right for you And is there a profile that you think about you know it's interesting

We talk a lot about this that every HBS student and this is what I said at our admitted student weekend two weekends ago because I was speaking in quarantin the 400ish whatever I'm completely making that number up like admits that were there and my line is I believe this to be true like you are more than your resume and your application Yeah Every single person here deserves to be here Yeah And I think for a variety of different reasons too like we're all very different in a lot of ways Our professional experience potentially what country we're from um is anything related to identity but I would never say that there's someone who doesn't deserve or isn't supposed to be here Nor would I say there's one like single archetype of an HBS student Right Yeah Yeah No that makes sense Um maybe one final question When you guys special asking 12 questions all the like me and my HBS interview they were like "One more question one more question." I was like "We're already on time." But I'm finding I'm happy I'm happy Add that to my file Exactly Right Say it And better say the answer is yes Right Yeah Yeah Absolutely Um when you got into HBS and all these other schools what did your parents say oh my gosh my parents were so happy Yeah Yeah I can imagine I think it's a big investment to go back and get your MBA Right Right And obviously you want to make your parents proud Yeah And I think especially coming from like a non-target undergrad in a lot of ways a very small school I was super proud as were they Yeah And were they professionals themselves were they were they do they have master's degrees or college grads the college grads not master degrees So I guess I'm the first to have a masters in my family So I haven't really thought about that I guess until right now So I guess that there's something special about that too But I was so committed to going back to school and for the education yes but more so for the co-curricular and like personal development that comes along with that So yeah my parents were thrilled I mean Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Because many ways you know I joke with my friends if your child goes to Harvard you've won the race My dad definitely loves wearing his hoodie a little bit more these days Like yeah like I go home for winter break and that's all right That's fantastic Very well earned Very well earned He must have done a few things right yeah Absolutely Well listen Hayden this was really terrific Thank you so much I think so I think I mean you gave us insight that would be impossible to get anywhere else I I've been in the business a long time I've got to admit I heard nothing about the rose That's so funny Well here I am There we go Yeah Thanks Oh let's throw a plug in for his for Hayden's Tik Tok That's right Take a minute My Tik Tok It's just my name Hayden Tonav H A Y D E N T A N A B E which actually is all my socials Instagram Tik Tok LinkedIn I claim it as soon as they know I want my name on my brand consistency baby That's fantastic It's a lot of fun as as a note and I I I am not a big tech talker but I I follow like three or four others and one of them is Hayden and he's he's given you a window he's given you a window into what's deeply honored I know I'm going to have to start diversifying from NBA content so I need people to support my brand transition right yeah graduation's coming up we go best of luck walking walking that uh that that what I think we're walking the like not line walk what do you you walk across the stage let's commencement best of luck walking for your graduation Enjoy it Yeah it'll be fun Sad but it'll be fun I guess Whatever That's terrific Then really a pleasure to meet you a pleasure for you to come Thanks for having me If you want to be one of our success stories sign up for a free consultation with a member of our full-time MBA admissions team Since we've worked with tens of thousands of applicants over the past two decades we can give you our honest opinion on your chances and help you put together your very best application that is not a sales call but rather your first session with one of us for free We can give you a profile evaluation answer specific questions about the process review your resume talk about your school choices and so much more Sign up at mbamission.com/cconult We look forward to working with