JOHNSON MEANS BUSINESS ALUMNI
MBA CLASSES OF 2008 & 2009
This weekend I am happy to open my home and the Johnson doors to 40 prospective applicants in the annual Johnson Means Business event. We are still in the middle of it but I thought the best entry would be to share with you the advice/speech I gave last night at the opening banquet to the JMBers.
Good evening JMB Class of 2007 and welcome to Ithaca! My name is Adrienne Rose Martinez and I am a JMBer from the class of 2005 and currently a second year here at the Johnson School. I understand some of you experienced some travel woes getting here and for that I’m sorry. I can truly sympathize and will have to share my worst “getting to Ithaca” story with you sometime. For now, let me assure you that the hardest part of this weekend is getting here and you’ve all accomplished that!
Tonight I want to share with you a little bit of what you can expect this weekend. So be ready. Be challenged. And be yourself.
Be ready for several days of jam packed activities. The office of diversity and inclusion has worked hard to package as much of the Johnson School as they can in these 3 days. How do you “be ready?” you may ask? You do so by asking questions, by talking to as many people as you can, by being curious, by taking full advantage of every opportunity you have to soak up data, make new relationships, and have experiences that will ultimately help you decide if Johnson is right for you.
Be Challenged.
This morning I woke up in Boston at 330am and by 10am I was in Manhattan in my final round of interview with Deutsche Bank Asset Management. At 230pm I landed in Syracuse and raced to Ithaca to turn in a paper that was due in a class I missed earlier today. And before I stepped on stage tonight I was on a phone interview. Business school is physically, mentally, and emotionally challenging. Not every day is like today but you’ve to to be ready to be challenged every day. This weekend you can seek to be challenged in many ways. Challenge yourself to imagine escaping the demands and distractions of a major city for two years. With an MBA its likely we’re going to end up in a major metropolitan area. Fortunately for Cornell, Ithaca is not one of those cities. We attract and admit those students who can appreciate what this amazing community has to offer. I invite you to find yourself here. I challenge you to find that you are meant to be a part of Johnson and Cornell.
Be Yourself.
As you’re living up to this challenge, be yourself. Think of this as a test. Only, you are the ones evaluating us. Does the Johnson School and Cornell community live up to your standards? If not, that’s okay. No hard feelings. We want people here who want to be here. But if you know this is where you belong, then the best way to show us is by being yourself. I’ll share a little secret with you. We kinda already know you’re amazing; otherwise you wouldn’t be here tonight.
JMB has had a ton of success in helping current Johnson students realize they were meant to be Cornellians. In the 1st & 2nd year classes alone there are 22 of us JMB alumni. Many of them you are being hosted by and are here this evening. I encourage you to chat with them, ask hard questions, and find out if this is where you belong.
As a double Cornellian I was able to realize it twice. Ask me why I came back and I am happy to share with you the many reasons but I truly hope that after this weekend you will have discovered why there is no where else you want to be.
