Sunday, April 6, 2008

New Orleans from a foreign eye

Mona Gao, Class of 2009
I have always shied away from writing in English. Why, it is like using chopsticks with my left hand. But the NOLA trip left such deep and treasured memories that I cannot help but write about it. Well, if the food is this delicious, I will have it, chopsticks or not.

New Orleans from a foreign eye

I came to America, fascinated by the “can do” attitude, the American dream. I went to New Orleans, and saw that dream coming true.

Prior to landing, the few words that I would use to describe New Orleans were: Katrina, racial tension, jazz, seafood. When I left, these words became: re-build, passion, entrepreneurship, talent, loud jazz, fried seafood.

So many things amazed me. The contrasts between different areas of town were striking: The grand mansions on St. Charles Avenue, the shattered surroundings of the Upper 9th ward. There was clearly racial tension too, passed through generations, and may take many more generations to completely change. However, what was so refreshing was seeing a street performance on Sunday, a group of African Americans doing amazing stunts and attracting a huge crowd. “We accept 5 dollars, 10 dollars; and 20 dollar notes from you white man.” Almost every sentence the performers shout out have something in there to contrast the different races. Yet to the listener, there is all humor, no bitterness; there is such openness to it. And if harmony is ever to be achieved, I feel this is the way it happens. Next day, we had an inspirational speaker- Ted, at Hope House. He spoke passionately about the racial issue. I don’t think we all agreed with his views. But having such a channel of communication is so valuable to solving many issues.

Then there are the talents who gathered to New Orleans to build charter schools, promote entrepreneurship. People who have many other choices but who have decided to put their financial interests, and themselves into New Orlean’s development. The passion is contagious, the efforts immense. Like a snowball, a critical mass of talent will attract more and more like them. There are so many problems, but so many hands working hard to solve them. One might argue that talents can be put to more efficient use if you have them working on problems with bigger financial returns, or on higher level strategies and vision. Yet I would argue that in a barrel that we call a nation, the strength is determined by the shortest stave, unless that is repaired, all else will eventually be slowed. More often than not, there is not enough social attention and buzz on the shortest stave. I think part of the reason that Idea Village has been successful is its ability to draw media attention, to create social buzz and to draw talent. This is something very valuable and tactics worth taking home with.

Team work

It is during team work like this that I want to congratulate myself for coming to the right school. Compassionate, cooperative, responsible, hard working, wanting to be fair and unbiased towards the entrepreneurs we were working with, all these qualities that I really value in a person, I see in our small team of four, and in our larger team of 16. I was also amazed by everyone’s ability to get by with so little sleep, and still enjoy the fun.

There were times when we were so emotionally involved with our entrepreneur that we just wanted to fight for her cause. There were times when we had to pull back and remind each other of the bigger picture. There were times when we just can’t wait to put in our own words, times when we’ve heard that question asked and answered more than once, by different people. There was roaring laughter, silent tears, yet all extremely rewarding.

Rewards

The moment I saw the expression on the winning entrepreneur’s face, I knew we had awarded the retail space to the right person. To her, it is a dream come true, after so many year’s of planning, to be able to finally open her own hair saloon and contribute to the community she hold so dear. To me, it is the most satisfying piece of work that I have been involved in in three days. Makes me think that the skill sets I have acquired through previous work, through business school, are not just good for becoming a young peg in a well lubricated institutional machine, it is useful in creating something too.

Thursday, April 3, 2008

My first spring break

Amy Gu, Class of 2009

It is my first Spring break ever. (since I only got winter and summer break in college back in China). and I feel I've learnt a lot. If one day I am able to improve the education system in China, I will definitely include Spring Break on my agenda, since it is a great time to travel with classmates and learn about the world.

New Orleans is an amazing city. It is definitely different from any other American city I've ever been. The distinctive difference could be seen everywhere. On one side, it has the elegant European-style buildings around Jackson Square and French Quarter; on the other side, it is one of the poorest cities in U.S. with the highest crime rate.


Jogging along the Mississippi river, I feel I sensed the power from the water which has fed one generation of American; Food is good too, with Gumbo, Po-boy, Oysters and all other unique dishes; however, the homeless people sleeping on the street and under the bridge has kept reminding me that this is a poor area. The mix gives me a unique sense of the city, and thus attracts a lot of tourists as well as young generation.

Entrepreneurship

The trip is sponsored by the school as a way to help local entrepreneurs to start their businesses. This is the third year Stanford is doing this. Our task this time is to help select an entrepreneur to open his or her business in a retail space opening in Upper 9th Ward, one of the poorest area and most destroyed places in the city during Katrina. 16 MBAs spent five days to interview the four candidates, analyze their business model, debate among groups on figuring one which one is most beneficial to the community and most sustainable. The new vocabulary I learnt is double bottom line, to balance the business between social benefit and economic return. It's difficult to measure. After hours hours debate/discussion/brainstorming, we finally made our decision on selecting a hair salon business to occupy the space. The hair salon will enhance employment and draw traffic to the area. And hopefully, she will open her store very soon.

Entrepreneurship is everywhere. MBA is not necessary, wealth family is not necessary as well. In the Hope House, a charity organization in town, we learn from Jonika(if I spell it right), a single mother who raised two kids by herself, to start a pasta venture. She sold pasta everyday, and managed to make a living. She didn't go to high school, though she dreamed to go to play basketball there. Her mother went to prison because of drug abuse, and she almost lost her life in the hurricane. However, she survived from all of that and became an entrepreneur. The same stories are heard in New Orleans every day, and it's very encouraging to anyone who is hesitating.

Glass, class

New Orleans is a city to sense the power and class. For examples, there will be seven tables in the room, with only two having glasses and waters, which means higher-class people will sit in those two tables. The city has a higher percentage of Black Americans, which is described by some columnists as "the corner that is being forgotten or tried to be forgotten by the American mainstream". Education is a big problem, since the city has the worst public school system. Luckily, after Katrina, most of the public school system were destroyed, which gave the opportunity for a lot of young educators to come to the city and set up charter schools. A HBS graduate in his 30s is working in a charter school to bring advanced education system to try to get more kids into better schools. "Is it worth"? someone asked me. "Yeah, it is. Imagine how much impact you could make in a big corporate? here, in this school, this 30 something is going to change the lives of 400 kids".


Leadership

How to rebuild the city? Leadership matter, said one of the GSB alumni working in New Orleans. He believes someone with the leadership skill will change the city. The city, once suffered from inefficient leadership of the mayor and unresponsiveness from the Federal government, is on its way to lead itself. A lot of non-profit organizations, such as Global Green and Solar Energy Systems Group, have been to the city and worked on different projects. The Make it Right foundation, led by movie star Brad Pitt, is now building energy-efficient housing for the local people. It's a new and insightful direction, and the city is hoping to become the leader in the next-generation urban planning technology.

To me, the most sad thing is to learn that the New Orleans is sinking. According to NASA, New Orleans will sink about 0.17 inches a year, or near three feet over the next 200 years. Parts of the city are 5-10 feet below sea level now. People are building and rebuilding every year, but there is chance that water will come again and wash everything away. I will pray for the city and hope there will be better solution and technology to protect the city. Hope people will continue to be happy there.