A Most Pleasant Surprise

Until January of 2020, “the enemy” was the only name I ever used to refer to BOND, or for that matter any other business-related institution. Having worked at a couple of startups in high school, my experience with business people thus far consisted almost entirely of being told what to do by managers who had little clue about how their product worked. At Michigan, as a CS and Math major, I gave the orange monolith of the enemy a wide berth whenever possible. However, when one of my friends became a BOND member, all of that began to change.

Each week my friend had some new story to tell about a business owner, or a bizarre line of chapstick about to take Ann Arbor by storm, or even the rambunctious nocturnal escapades of another BOND member. When I found out that all of these so-called “clients” BOND was working with were local businesses I had heard about, visited, and in some cases frequented, my interest was thoroughly piqued. Eventually, my friend introduced me to some of his teammates. I went in prepared to meet some overconfident business students wearing way-too-formal coats but was absolutely blown away by the array of warm smiles, offhanded jokes, and genuineness that greeted me. With all the tangible evidence pointing in one direction, I decided to apply to BOND.

Despite showing up to my first interview in a sweatshirt (not advisable) and demonstrating absolute ignorance about everything business, I somehow made it into what I now believe is an awesome organization. Working alongside and learning from my teammates, we brought to life the dreams and aspirations of a kindhearted chocolate maker. After much practical instruction from my project managers and fellow consultants, I gradually came to understand that the word qualitative could have real value that I had previously failed to appreciate. I even found that the “enemy’s” field–consulting–had a lot more overlap with data science than I ever could have imagined.

Only a few weeks into my project, I couldn’t help but think that here were a bunch of incredibly welcoming, smart, and caring individuals who I now would classify as none other than close friends and roommates. No longer would I say BOND is an organization strictly dedicated to the field of business; instead, BOND is about making lasting connections with an amazing array of people, learning loads of new stuff you never would have encountered otherwise, and sharing your interests and passions, however far they may be from consulting, with your newfound companions.