The Case for the Small Pond
Next week, I’ll graduate from the Jenkins MBA Program at NC State. The last 21 months have been a whirlwind and I often look back to the nervous days I spent in the Spring of 2015 weighing my different options for Full-Time MBA Programs. In short, it came down to an all too common question — “Did I want to be a big fish in small pond or a small fish in a big pond?”
I was blessed and humbled to have a few options on each side of the debate. I had snuck my way into two top-tier programs with cohorts of over 500 students (the Big Ponds) and successfully earned acceptances from two smaller, middle-tier programs with cohorts of 50 students (The Small Ponds). (Spoiler: I chose the small pond). As I look back with the clarity of hindsight, there are a few advantages of the small pond that I wish I had realized beforehand*.
Taking Chances
Some students enter their MBA Program with an exact vision of what they want to do upon graduation. Others don’t have a clue. I fell somewhere in between. From the first day of the program, it was clear that I was going to have countless opportunities to get my hands dirty. This was the perfect fit for where I was in my career crossroads. The small school environment provided every opportunity I could imagine AND most opportunities included a potential leadership position. I felt like a kid at the playground, where I was able to explore new territories, share my ideas with my peers and take swift action to make them a reality. All in all, being a big fish in a small pond gave me the opportunity to take more chances, experiment and explore.
Community
In the small pond, it’s nearly impossible to fly under the radar. This was made quite clear to me when I missed class (I actually had the flu) and found my Facebook and email littered with inquiries from my classmates. By the second week of classes, I could name the 50 members of my cohort and knew their backstories, goals, and challenges. This group quickly began churning out more Facebook invites than I could respond to -- Brewery Meetups, Pickup Basketball Games, Barbecues, Trivia and more. I'm sure that large schools find similar camaraderie in their groups but what I loved, even more, was knowing the depths of those that will later represent the Jenkins MBA out in the working world. For some, hiding in the corners of a classroom without notice is their ideal. That’s never been me and that’s exactly why I thrived in the Small Pond at NC State.
Standing Out
I know, what I’ve mentioned so far is mostly strong support for the personal development that the small pond provides and lacking on professional outcomes that follow. To be honest, that’s mostly because I don’t quite know where the degree is going to take me or my classmates and I put very little weight in the short term outcomes at hand. What I do know is that the small pond provides ample opportunity for you to stand out. Malcolm Gladwell unpacks this further in his book David and Goliath, but in short, my small pond experience empowered me and furthered my belief that I can make a difference in the world. Sure, that’s a bit cheesy and banal — but I think it helps me every day.
As I'm handed my diploma, I will have no doubt that I left my mark on this University in many different ways. I can point out my impact on the program's growth in job interviews. I can mentor prospective students about the challenges we faced and how we overcame them. I can quantify the impact that my classmates and I had on the local community through volunteer hours and service work. Further, I feel the utmost comfort in reaching out to any professor or staff member that I engaged with and expect that they’ll know who I am. So, sure, maybe I won’t enjoy the spoils of having a top 5 university on my resume, but at least I’ll walk away with tangible proof of how I can impact my community. Proof of how I can influence my environment. Proof of how I can make waves. Even in a small pond.
*By no means am I attempting to speak ill of large, prestigious universities. Those programs stand as giants and pillars in communities and I will be the first to admit I know far too little to even begin to comment on their complexities or benefits.