A Farewell Letter
Noelia Lombardo Gava, Editor-in-Chief
The summer before joining HBS was a very difficult one. We were locked down, embassies were closed, it was impossible to know what the future would look like. It was impossible to imagine what life at HBS would look like. It was that summer that I read the post on Slack “we are looking for editors for the Harbus, the school newspaper.” I quickly applied, as I had suddenly found something that helped me picture myself at HBS doing what I love: reading and writing. Time flew since then, and my time to say goodbye has arrived. In this difficult letter, I can only find words of gratitude.
My deepest gratitude is for the Harbus team. Amidst the MBA’s hectic life, our editors and staff make the time to spend hours finding meaningful stories to share with the community. It is very special to see a group of incredible people come together, month after month, to create something new, a window to different lives and stories. This month, for example, we have Diwali celebrations, advice on future career choices, entrepreneurial quests or the journey of understanding someone’s own masculinity. It is the quality and depth of these stories that made my role so fulfilling, so fascinating. Thank you, team, for that.
I am also incredibly grateful for our readership and contributors. Thousands of eyes that scan our words, fingers that turn our pages, neurons that gift us their ideas. If you have not yet, I hope you will complete your HBS journey by gracing us with your lines—please reach out to contribute. Thank you, also, to the administration for elevating our stories and being supportive of our editorial decisions.
I am so thankful for the path that brought me here. I do not have words to express the depth of that feeling, so I will borrow those of Antonio Machado, leaving you with my last favorite path poem. Thank you for everything and until our paths cross again.
Caminante, son tus huellas
el camino y nada más;
Caminante, no hay camino,
se hace camino al andar.
Al andar se hace el camino,
y al volver la vista atrás
se ve la senda que nunca
se ha de volver a pisar.
Caminante, no hay camino
sino estelas en la mar.
Traveler, your footprints
are the only road, nothing else.
Traveler, there is no road;
you make your own path as you walk.
As you walk, you make your own road,
and when you look back
you see the path
you will never travel again.
Traveler, there is no road;
only a ship’s wake on the sea.
Noelia Lombardo Gava (MBA ’22) was born in Argentina but identifies herself as a global citizen. She is a biomedical engineer, a management consultant, a storyteller and a lifelong migrant. She loves the outdoors, diving, yoga, reading, and good debates.
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