A Week at Harvard University!
A Week at Harvard University!
I always wondered why graduates of Harvard always shine! What’s so special about teaching in Harvard that creates such a highly knowledgeable people? Why are they all highly self-confidant? and why are they all very well connected?
Well, after attending the Private Equity and Venture Capital executive training program at Harvard, I discovered the first reason. It’s the Case Method! First, I thought this is only for executive training, but then I learned that it’s for all graduate business school programs! They don’t do lectures for MBA!
The idea here is that whatever you learn from lectures you can always learn from the book! But what you don’t get from the book is the practical process of self/mind development. The analysis and interactions you experience in the classroom while discussing a case-study with other students and with the professors is what builds your character later on.
Instead of learning how to do things technically, you study that on your own, and then you read a real-world case that includes a related story about the topic in hand. Later, you come to the class to discuss what happened, and relate it with the topic in hand. You also start to think about what you would do if you’re in that position. So you kind of apply what you study on a real example on the spot, and you relate it to a story in which you are involved.
This means that you actually went through the experience, this means that you will never forget it, this means that you have get a wealth of knowledge about real companies and what they did, and this means that you accumulate tens of years of experience while studying a 2-year MBA program there.
Add to all this, the fact that people from all over the world come to Harvard, so there is always an international community in each classroom, where the discussion will be enriched with views from different parts of the world. And yes, everyone should participate in the discussion because 50% of the grades comes from the case discussion. In the program I attended, there were 80 VCs and PEs from all parts of the world.
The second reason is the side activities they have! One of the most interesting activities for Arab Harvard students is the Harvard Arab Weekend. Every year, for the past 5 years, a group of Arab students organizes this big event at Harvard. The event is mainly a conference that touches several aspects of the Arab World, and it includes high level Arab speakers. I happened to attend this year’s event.
It is all organized and controlled by students and the Alumni on voluntary basis! I asked of the organizers if the university controls this, and she said not at all, the university only offers support in two main types: offering the facility, and dedicating a very small budget to kick start the event. However, students raise sponsorships and they charge attendees like $50 to attend to pay for the expenses and if there is any more money left, it goes to the university.
The point here is that students get to contact top level business executives and political figures. This year’s event was divided into 3 main themes (days), and for each day, there were two keynote speeches and 4 panels. A student is assigned to each panel. He/she takes responsibility for that panel, and decides the speakers, contacts them, organizes the panel, and runs the show! So Harvard students get in touch with those high level executives, listen to them sharing the stories of their lives and the valuable lessons learned in their long years of experience, and interact with them during the panels. The whole event ends with a job fair companies from the Middle East are invited to recruit Arab graduates.
Anyway, I can’t see why this can’t happen at our local universities! But I know at least one university that always welcomes such events, PSUT! I hope PSUT and all other universities start to find their own creative ways to enhance their education experience and graduate world-level professionals.
