Phillip Jones (MBA/MPP 2021): Intro and HBS Student Life

The following is an computer-generated summary of the video transcript.

Hey, everyone. My name is Philip Jones, and I'm a current joint degree student between the Harvard Business School and the Harvard Kennedy School. I'm so excited today that I get the opportunity to introduce myself one onto this is going to be a Siris of events that really details my transition from someone in the armed forces to someone who is a current student at Harvard. Just a little about me. I grew up in a really strong military family. I was born in Okinawa, Japan. Uh, my mom and my dad were both Air Force pilots and navigators and, you know, just like any good son, I had to do the exact opposite thing. Eso for undergrad. I chose to go to the United States Naval Academy after I completed my four years there. I had the opportunity, really the honor to serve in the Marine Corps Infantry for about six years. Throughout my time in the Marine Corps, I deployed multiple times on different continents. I served with probably the best people I think that are on the planet, and I definitely had a great time with that. After I completed my fleet time in the military I transitioned to the basic school where I was an instructor for newly graduated and commissioned officers in the infantry. Just really, during that time, I decided that I wanted to pursue both a degree in business and policy. I think the G I Bill is a very powerful thing, and I know I wanted to use all three years of that. And so I really wanted a place that I could grow that I could develop. And ultimately, I wrote my essay about, um, how I wanted to be a leader in both the public and the private sector, and ultimately that brought me to Harvard Business School and the Harvard Kennedy School. After first arriving at Harvard, I was initially worried that I wasn't going to be able to be a value add in the classroom or on the ecosystem as a whole. But ultimately, that's that's just not true. Um, I think that individuals in the military are primed, uh, to be the example for leadership on Day one, and Harvard Business School very much has the section experience, right? So you're with 94 individuals every single day. I count them as my second family up in Cambridge. But from Day one, Veterans Air able to demonstrate that time management that project management the ability to lead diverse teams which I think is such a boon in the private sector. Uh, and the second thing I would say is that no man or woman is an island, and that the school has so many amazing resource is to help you in case you're struggling. And initially I was worried. Hey, I'm military guy. I don't have any experience in accounting or private equity or finance. I have no idea what the you know, difference between Alfa and Beta is. I don't really know anything about marketing or funnels, but really the core curriculum at Harvard Business School of the RC That required curriculum really gives you a steady foothold on all of the basic and foundational things of business that you can build upon in your second year. And once again, there's so many amazing resource is that, uh, it is of no concern. I think that military veterans are already on Day one, and there's so many resources that help you. And then I guess finally, I really wanted to talk about all the resource is from the veteran perspective that Harvard has for you. So currently I'm one of the co presidents for the Armed Forces Alumni Association, and that's essentially just the Veterans Club at Harvard. And HBs is one of the biggest schools in the harbor ecosystem. So we actually have a seat on the Harvard Veterans Organization Council as a whole and in my role as president of the A f. A. A. We've really just help veterans with that transition from that military leader to that civilian leader. So from day One, we provide resume reviews so that you can, you know, hit recruiting. Uh, just very, very quickly. We provide, uh, just that collaborative environment. If you wanna hang out with a lot of veterans and you wanna talk about hey, like, I actually have no idea what this word means or hey, I don't really know what I want to do After I hear this search fund, isa pretty exciting opportunity. Can you connect me with someone in the ecosystem? Um, at the end of the day, the Veterans Club served as that bridge builder, and that facilitated that really connects you, you know, as you move from the military into someone at Harvard and beyond. So that's one of my favorite roles at Harvard and and some other videos. I'll probably talk about that more. And then I think for the last part of this initial introduction video, I really want to give a plug to the section experience at Harvard Business School. I think that is, uh, you know, if you look at a the most valuable value proposition that the school has to offer is the section experience. So I'm in section I Don't worry. I'm gonna wear my section I hoody for my next video. But I think that's what separates Harvard Business School from all the other business schools this Theobald ITI to collaborate with 90 or so different individuals from all walks of life. If I wanted to only talk to military people, I just would have stayed in the military. But, uh, my my first two section mates, you know, one was at Capital one one was entrepreneur. And then when the second semester, when we shifted to different seats, I had someone to work in the financial industry and someone who was like a tech person and just the ability to interact with individuals from all walks of life from international domestic military civilians. NASA I think that is the best thing that Harvard Business School has to offer. I truly believe that diversity is a strength and to get all these individuals to see them every single day to learn the fundamentals of business, to network, to become a professional family, that is the I think the number one thing that I take away from Harvard Business School and the reason that I applied so hopefully that first video wasn't too choppy. I know we're all kind of in a covert quarantine right now, and I'm in my my childhood room right now. But once again, I'm so excited to have the opportunity to share about Harvard Business School to share how I used to be in the military and how I transition and to answer really anything that you have. Hopefully, some of the other videos will be a little more interactive, but once again thank you so much on I look forward to sharing you my videos.