"You're One of Us Now, We Got You"

You've been out of school for years, learning how to fend for yourself, make your name, and get that promotion, starting to understand what Taylor Swift meant when she said "you're on your own, kid." And then you land at business school: a place designed to give you a lifetime membership to a club. You know that, even expect it, and it's a big part of why you chose it. But the intensity of it only hits you once you actually arrive.

For many RCs at HBS, this happens when you wear your section T-shirts at START, or when you take your section photos and run the section olympics. But for a small group of RC students this year, the realization hit in an unexpected way. A few of us weren't able to arrive on campus on time due to visa delays, and we were bracing ourselves for disappointment, loneliness, and the biggest form of FOMO. For us, the weeks leading up to the beginning of this new chapter were filled with anxiety and stress instead of excitement. What we didn't realize yet was that belonging at HBS is a given, and it embraces you before you even know it. And no, T-shirts and photos are not a requirement.

On August 25th, as I prepared to join the Zoom meeting for the Dean's address, willing myself not to think about the hundreds of messages and photos already floating in the WhatsApp group chats, I received what would be the first in a long series of gestures. My section chair sent the sweetest, most supportive email: "I can speak for everyone in your section in saying we wish you were here. Last year I had a student from India who arrived a week late. Everything worked out very well for him, and I'm sure it will work out well for you as well." Suddenly, the smaller things, like not getting a picture in front of the HBS signboard, didn't matter anymore. Someone out there was genuinely concerned about me and wanted me in their classroom.

And it wasn't just him. In the days that followed, I received messages from multiple professors checking in, asking about my well-being and how they could support me. Then came the section mates: messages and emails offering help, an offer to chat, or just a simple "I sit near you in class, can't wait for you to be here." For a scenario that had felt so lonely and daunting just weeks earlier, it was startling to suddenly feel like everyone was in my corner.

Not that all of it was easy. It was still hard to look down at a room of ninety and be a fly on the wall, watching all of them without really being part of the one thing I had been dreaming about for months: being in an HBS classroom. I could try to raise my hand and get involved, but in a sea of actual, physical hands, my "virtual" one would go unseen. And beneath all of it ran the growing uncertainty of the visa itself, whether it would come through, and when I'd actually make it. Through all of this, another community showed up more than any other: the rest of the "Late Bloomers" group chat. Ranting with them, swapping tips and information, and making plans for dinners once we were all on campus made me realize I wasn't alone in this, and it made this strange, new, disappointing experience a little more bearable.

And so I finally arrived on campus, without the nerves that usually accompany the start of something this big. The flurry of welcome messages from classmates had already cushioned it along with dorm mates who showed up offering help before I could ask. So when I walked into class on my first day, to the sound of a long, loud applause and ninety faces turned toward me, a room full of people I'd never met genuinely glad I'd made it, I understood something I might have missed had I arrived on time: at HBS, you belong, and this community will always have your back.

Parina Anand (MBA ‘28) is originally from Agra, India. She graduated from Delhi Technological University with a degree in Computer Engineering. Prior to HBS, she worked at Citi and later as a product manager across the startup and nonprofit sectors, focusing on financial inclusion and maternal health in India. Outside of work, she loves reading and experimenting in the kitchen with new cuisines.