Semper Fidelis

Once a few years ago, I was having dinner with a friend. This person was certainly very successful in a traditional way and we were having a conversation about the plants around his house as a metaphor for life.

He was talking to the head house keeper about the upkeep of the house. She explained to him how she had been singing to the plants and how she felt that was encouraging them to grow. He took exception: "Why are you singing to the plants? Things grow better under pressure! You shouldn't be singing to them, you should be yelling at them!"

He chuckled as he related the story, and reflected on how history tests and challenges us and how the people who have tasted the peaks of success in life first drank deep from the cup of failure in the depths of despair. Success too easily won, he argued, no matter how tremendous, is not a path to sustained growth. The irony is that success often invokes a sense of accomplishment and complacency although the drive that accompanies true success is never really satisfied.

This is certainly true for those of us who chose to do an MBA at Rotman. We are being put through the wringer now. But most of us know that if things go the way we want, this is just the beginning. Should we be so lucky to achieve the goals we are aiming for, life will only become more challenging, more difficult and more rewarding.

There are many people here who are exceptionally bright and hard working. Everyone is being put under pressure. Everyone is being "rattled" as we are being pushed to our limits to see how far we can go. But I'm very impressed with the resilience and strength of my classmates. Clearly, they are made of strong yet malleable stuff. You can tell that in 10 years time (if not sooner) they will be rock stars and will look back and smile at "the good ol' days at Rotman".