7 Biggest Regrets From The Class Of 2022 Best & Brightest

Vicky Partenope: ‘I really focused so hard on the academic component that I overlooked the other parts that make WEMBA such an exceptional experience.’

Everyone warned Vicky Partenope how quickly her EMBA experience at The Wharton School’s San Francisco program would progress. Then she blinked and was well into the program before realizing it was passing her by.

“I did not make the most of it for a long time,” says the organizational strategist for the U.S. Department of Defense from Baltimore, Maryland.

“Our program start aligned perfectly with the start of the pandemic in 2020, so certainly things were different for a time, but I really focused so hard on the academic component that I overlooked the other parts that make WEMBA such an exceptional experience: the talented and multi-skilled cohorts, the opportunities for travel and extracurricular learning, and our amazing career services,” says the Class of 2022 Best & Brightest EMBA Candidate.

7 BIGGEST REGRETS OF TOP EXECUTIVE MBAs

For Rena Dharmawan, her biggest regret of INSEAD’s EMBA wasn’t necessarily a regret at all, but something she would do differently if she could go back:

Rena Dharmawan: ‘Taking one or two days off or just taking it easy after each module instead of diving straight back to work and surgery would have been very helpful mentally and physically as the modules were all very intense.’

“I would try my very best to completely leave work behind when doing the module, totally ‘switch off’ and be completely present during the modules. It is easier said than done, as in my profession there might be medical emergencies I will have to address, especially if it relates directly to my patients,” says the consultant surgeon at the National Cancer Centre of Singapore.

“Also, taking one or two days off or just taking it easy after each module instead of diving straight back to work and surgery would have been very helpful mentally and physically as the modules were all very intense.“

Each year, P&Q honors 100 EMBA candidates among the Best & Brightest EMBA Candidates of their class. As part of the nomination, these students answer the following question: What is the biggest regret from your time in your Executive MBA program?

We scoured those answers for the biggest regrets from the Class of 2022. Read them below.

1. Not being able to participate in student orgs

“My biggest regret is not being able to engage in student organizations due to the weekend format of the EMBA program. Most of the student organization events occurred during weekdays and there was limited opportunity to get involved.” – Kunal Patel, Emory University (Goizueta)

2. Missing out on some in-person experience

Sam Raimist: ‘Over the past year I have had the chance to connect on a much more personal level with many of my classmates, forging life-long friendships. I only wish I had more time to build stronger connections with everyone.’

“While I certainly signed up for the program with full awareness that we were in the middle of the pandemic, I do wish we would have had more than a single year of in-person classes. There is just so much more synergy to our learnings when everyone is in person in class together. The first year of our program was facilitated over Zoom, while in the second year we had the good fortune to move to in-person learning. Over the past year I have had the chance to connect on a much more personal level with many of my classmates, forging life-long friendships. I only wish I had more time to build stronger connections with everyone.” – Sam Raimist, Cornell University (Johnson)  

3. Not starting my capstone earlier

“During my capstone, I really enjoyed (and found extremely empowering) the process of reaching into my network, identifying people I should interview, and reaching out to ask for time to talk. Saying ‘I’m working on a project for my EMBA’ was extremely effective at opening doors—people want to help. I wish I had started that process much earlier than I did.” – Toby A. Tiktinsky, HEC Paris

NEXT PAGE: More regrets from top EMBA candidates