I could’ve been working for a Russian oil company.

Let me be even more honest. I wanted to.

In the now-distant 2005 I left my job at Morgan Stanley to go to Harvard. I got accepted to Harvard’s MBA program. It all sounds glamorous but I faced many doubts and dilemmas. After my undergraduate degree, I worked for Morgan Stanley in London and then they offered me to move to Moscow. I was Western-educated, and Russian-speaking — I guess, a perfect candidate. Russia was growing fast — it was one of the “BRIC” countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China). Goldman Sachs came up with the term “BRIC”. BRIC held a lot of promise. Morgan Stanley had started to expand their office in Moscow. I accepted the offer.

I had a great time working for Morgan Stanley in Russia. I absolutely don’t want to lie about that stretch of my career. I got to work on huge deals, reporting directly to senior bankers in London and New York.

I applied to Harvard, because… Well, I don’t know why. Because why not. The sky was the limit. It wasn’t. I was flying high.

I got accepted.

When I got accepted and for many, many years afterwards I questioned my choice to interrupt my work and do an MBA. I was doing great at Morgan Stanley, makings lots of money, maturing professionally, and excelling at networking — a skill you’re expected to master if you want to progress in investment banking.

But once I got accepted, I “had” to do my MBA. You don’t turn down Harvard.