Curiosity and Growth Harvard MBA Essay can be narrated with an exploration mindset, a change mindset or a courage mindset.
But rarely I have seen applicants use learning from peers as an example.
Acknowledging that peer to peer learning was essential for your growth is a subtle way to address the value of the Case Study Method at Harvard.
When 50% of your grades at Harvard MBA depends on your class participation, you must establish without any ambiguity that you can overcome communication and cultural barriers and reach out to the right person to solve your problem.
This openness to communicate and learn from the best can be captured throughout your curiosity and growth narrative. It need not be the primary theme of your story but for the Oil and Gas applicant, this was an essential way to stand out from her peers, who also typically have impressive responsibilities – like managing multi-million dollar equipments, leading diverse teams from 30+ nationalities and working in tough terrains.
Because the applicant was a women engineer, it was very easy for me to make that identity as the primary focus. But I didn’t do so because there are other equally impressive women engineers applying to Harvard. So when you have similar profiles targeting the same position, you must think beyond the cliché and primary identity.