A Bond That Makes The Growing Pains Worth It

When I joined BOND, I had certain expectations: I knew I would work on teams, get exposure to strategy and business fundamentals, and meet new people. What I didn’t anticipate was the amount of personal reflection and challenge I would experience as well.

On my first project team, I would get irrationally nervous to present during team and client meetings. The other senior consultants on the team invested time and effort into helping me get my slides together and become familiar with explaining my thought processes. Prior to that semester, I was always aware of my introverted personality and tended to listen rather than speak up. BOND gave me a support system and opportunity to recognize a critical area of improvement for myself.

There have also been informal experiences through BOND that led to personal growth. The summer after my freshman year, Quinn and I joined Ananya in India to travel and work on a couple consulting projects. This was by far the most spontaneous decision I’d ever made, and I was still in disbelief when I landed in Mumbai after 24 hours of travel. In addition to being introverted, I’m also very risk-averse. Despite a couple rocky situations, Ananya and her family made a daunting trip one of the most exciting experiences I’ve ever had.

In retrospect, if it wasn’t for the people in BOND simultaneously supporting and pushing me, I definitely wouldn’t have had the college experience I’ve had so far. Over the past couple years, there’s been many other moments like the ones I mentioned above. Although I’ve always prioritized being self-aware of my abilities and comfort, I also look to pursue new opportunities and challenge my routines and what I perceive I’m not good at.