Hi, my name is Heather Jackson, and I am not supposed to be at Harvard Business School. No, I don’t mean I was an ‘admissions mistake’ (though every single admit, myself included, has thought this countless times). I mean, by every possible statistic, I shouldn’t be here. I grew up in a low-income single-parent household in rural Kentucky - I am talking about a town of 4,000 people and one incredible Betty’s OK Country Cooking restaurant with an out-of-this-world catfish buffet. My parents did not graduate from college, neither did anyone in my family or most other families I knew. Growing up, I did not have any idea what an MBA was or why anyone would need one.
It was years after leaving my beloved hometown that I would hear that all-empowering phrase: “The answer is YES!” In my final year at Vanderbilt, I had started thinking about grad school. I had accepted an offer to move to Miami and work at Restaurant Brands International (Burger King, Tim Hortons, Popeyes) in their Leadership Development Program. While I was honored and excited about the opportunity, I couldn’t picture what was next on the horizon. It was then I heard about the 2+2 program at HBS. I really could not bring myself to believe that they would ever accept me into such a program, nor could I ever imagine I could afford it. I was an English major in undergrad and had not settled on business as a career path until later in my college career. I really didn’t believe I fit the bill as the all-ambitious corporate guru that I imagined all HBS students to be (hilarious in retrospect). With encouragement from my friends and professors, I decided to apply anyway, and wow, am I happy I did.
I remember exactly where I was when I received the answer that I was accepted: sitting on the floor of the LAX airport (1/10 do not recommend). I was blown away. First, by amazement that Harvard Business School chose me out of all the incredible choices. Second, by the slightly panicked feeling of how I would afford it all. I had received a full-ride scholarship to attend Vanderbilt, and I worked odd jobs on top of that to support myself and my family. I had never taken on debt and did not know how it worked, so I had a lot of fear of the unknown.
However, as I learned more about the HBS Financial Aid office (read: asked many very dumb questions to the Financial Aid office), I discovered different resources and opportunities that I could turn to in order to make this impossible dream a reality. The Forward Fellowship was designed for students like me with extenuating family circumstances that make the financial burden of pursuing an MBA extra tricky. When I first heard about the fellowship, I felt a sense of calm knowing that there were others like me on campus who, though they may not look like me or come from the same place as me, share a similar story. I not only feel fortunate to be a recipient of need-based financial aid and the Forward Fellowship, but I am now part of a developing community of other recipients who share similar journeys.
All in all, my time at HBS has been transformative (one of the truest clichés that you’ll hear about HBS). I wear my background like a badge of honor here, which is something I have never felt before. It’s unlikely that you’ll have a conversation with me where I don’t find a way to namedrop the great Commonwealth of Kentucky, and I’ve even have had the unique opportunity to jumpstart a club on campus dedicated to increasing awareness and empathy for rural America, The Heartland Club. After graduation, I’ll be moving to Seattle and starting as a Sr. Product Manager at Amazon Web Services, but no matter where I head off to next, I will always be extremely proud to tout the fact that no, I was never supposed to make it to Harvard Business School, but neither were so many of my incredible classmates, and that’s what makes this place so special.